Published on Tuesday 21 July 2020
The Youth Justice Plan provides information on the performance of the Dorset Combined Youth Offending Service for the period of 12 months up until September 2019 as well as the priorities for this year.
Councillors at BCP Council’s Cabinet meeting (29 July 2020) will be asked to endorse the Youth Justice Plan for the Dorset Combined Youth Offending Service.
The Youth Justice Board measures service performance against three key performance indicators.
The first indicator shows the rate of young people entering the justice system for the first time. The latest data shows a rate of 269 per 100,000 10-17 year olds which compares with a figure of 357 in the previous year.
The second indicator looks at reoffending. The local reoffending rate has for the most part remained below the national rate.
The third indicator shows the number of 10-17 year-olds who have received custodial sentences with numbers continue to be low in comparison to the national average.
Councillor Sandra Moore, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families Services, said:
"We very much welcome the latest results in the draft Youth Justice plan. Our priority is to offer the best support to our young people in order to reduce the number of young people who commit offences locally. The plan plays a really important part in helping us to identify and fully understand the issues so that we can work with our young people as effectively as possible in order to support them to have a brighter future."
The service is already working on actions identified in the plan. Key priority areas of work include focusing on supporting young people to access education, training and employment, a focus on prevention of child exploitation and youth violence, reducing first time entrants into the youth justice system, improving resettlement planning for those coming out of custody.
The report will go to Overview and Scrutiny Board on 20 July before being considered at Cabinet. The report will also be considered by Dorset Council People Scrutiny Committee on 20 July 2020.