County Durham Youth Offending Service s SLCN Strategy: Meaningful Conversations

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Fay Hicks
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1 County Durham Youth Offending Service s SLCN Strategy: Meaningful Conversations Susan Stewart, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, NTHFT Sarah Caden, Practice Improvement Officer, CDYOS Gill Eshelby, Strategic Manager, CDYOS

2 Research National research suggests that 60-90% of young people in the youth justice system have speech, language and communication needs. This might include an inability to effectively understand and engage in a legal process, leading to poor presentation in court or during a police or YOT interview. (Source: Nobody Made the Connection ; Children s Commissioner, 2012).

3 A Young Person s Youth Justice Journey Police interview YOS assessment Youth Caution Youth Conditional Caution Court hearing Referral Order Panel meeting Restorative Meeting YOS supervision Custody

4 Our SLCN Strategy Phase 1 (March to Sept 2014) A communication friendly Youth Offending Service Phase 2 (Oct 2014 to March 2015) The victim s voice and Restorative Justice Phase 3 (April 2015 to Sept 2016) A Specialist SLT Service within CDYOS Mentoring, training, resource development Joint vision and strategy; strong partnership work

5 Phase 1 Learning Points SLT and YOS separate languages Youth Caution and Youth Conditional Caution - legal language inaccessible The young person s view/reflections of his/her own communication not considered Interventions not always communication friendly Court processes not inclusive

6 Youth Caution 8. If the offence I have admitted is included in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009 (as amended), accepting this simple caution means I may not be allowed to do certain activities which involve working with children or adults. You have told me if this is the case. I will be committing an offence if I carry out (or try to carry out) any of those activities. You will provide details of this caution to the Disclosure and Baring Service, who may consider me for inclusion in the Children's Barred List and / or the Adults Barred List which are lists kept by the Disclosure and Barring Service in reaching decisions about the suitability of persons to work with vulnerable groups. I have read / have had read to me the contents of this form and understand that my signature confirms that I understand the consequences of the simple caution being administered to me. I agree to accept a simple caution for the offence(s) shown above. Signature of person cautioned:.

7 Phase 2 Learning Points Referral Order Panel meetings Volunteers not trained in SLCN Contract hard to understand Restorative meetings Preparation: understanding impact on victims Reliant on language competence in real time Communication needs of young person Communication needs and expectations of victim(s)

8 Impact 89% staff confident in recognising SLCN 82% staff report Phase 1 transformed their working practice Training in SLCN was very well received and we found a lot of evidence of case managers applying this learning to their work, in particular to the way they planned to engage with children and young people (HMIP, August 2014) Highly Commended SLCN Innovation, Shine a Light Awards 2015 CYP Now Awards 2015 Finalist Academic evaluation (2015 onwards)

9 Human Impact Early implementation of SLCN screen 28 SLT referrals in 20 weeks (May - Sept 2015) CDYOS Case Studies Kate (13 yrs.) - education, mental health & looked after needs addressed Carl (15 yrs.) - Referral Order Panel supported SLCN Ann (16 yrs.) Crown Court Judge cited Language Disorder a mitigating circumstance in sentencing to a community order rather than custody

10 Recommendations: Resources Youth Caution and Youth Conditional Caution need to be communication friendly Referral Order Panels and Restorative Meetings communication friendly practice and resources SLCN to be integral to Panel Matters training Website Youth Justice communication friendly resources for YOTs and SLTs

11 Recommendations: Training SLCN Awareness and strategies YOS staff and volunteers Magistrates/HMCTS Youth Justice System (all staff) Children s Services/Schools Adolescent language development/therapy and Youth Justice processes Student SLTs SLT Departments

12 AssetPlus SLC & N Screen Opportunities Mandatory SLCN screening within Youth Justice System putting communication at the centre Extend existing SLT provision within YOS Link with Liaison and Diversion pilots Challenges Ensuring process is young person centred Developing staff skills and understanding Establishing a seamless Youth Justice/SLT pathway

13 Finally... Build capacity and capability within YOS and SLT services to meet identified needs of young people Services need to be commissioned nationally to provide SLTs in YOS Embed SLCN into Youth Justice strategy and beyond Request national Review of the Youth Justice System includes SLCN

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