Youth Offending team inspections - The inspection programme

The joint inspection programme started in September 2003, following two pilot inspections. The programme is led by HMI Probation, with participation from eight other criminal justice and other inspectorates:

• Audit Commission
• Commission for Social Care Inspection
• Healthcare Commission
• HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons
• HM Inspectorate of Probation
• Office for Standards in Education
• Social Services Inspectorate for Wales

All 155 YOTS in England and Wales are to be inspected over a five to six year cycle. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are included in Phase 4 of the inspection process, which has been specifically designed to complement the Joint Area Review (JAR) of Children’s Services. This approach reflects the need by the inspection as well as the YOT’s themselves to embrace both a criminal justice as well as Children’s Services agenda. Findings from the YOT inspection inform not only the JAR, but also the Corporate Assessment and the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) in England.

When is the YOT Inspection?

The fieldwork part of the Inspection will commence on Monday 18th February 2008

What will they be looking at?

• Governance/Management/Partnership agreements
• Work in Courts
• Work with children and young people in the community
• Work with children and young people subject to Detention and Training Orders
• Victim and Restorative Justice work
• Managing risk of harm/safeguarding/prevention/social inclusion

The Phase Four process

The Inspection will comprise:

• Analysis of evidence in advance – this is a document that we have already provided to the inspectors highlighting strengths and areas for improvement against selected inspection criteria.
• Examination of a random sample of cases and interviews with case managers.
• Questionnaires and interviews with service users, children and young people, parents/carers and, where appropriate, victims.
• Interviews with operational and strategic managers and partners.