Welcome

I’m delighted to announce that our Scottish Government funding has been renewed and we can now share with you our workplan for 2017/18 and our revised strategy for 2017-2019. This is fantastic news, and is due to the hard work of our team, and the continued support of the people we work with. It gives us more opportunities to really deepen our impact and spread our work to a wider audience. 

At CYCJ, we know that young people involved in offending are almost always amongst the most vulnerable and trauma experienced in our society. That’s why we're pleased to see this recognised in the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy, published this week. This includes a commitment to supporting the needs of young offenders. Crucially, it also mentions the recommendation for a mental health/health care pathway for young people in and on the edges of secure care that was made in our Secure Care in Scotland: Looking Ahead paper.  

I was proud to be in the audience when Practice Advisor Brian McClafferty received his Butler Trust Award commendation from the Princess Royal at a ceremony in London on March 9. Brian was nominated for his longstanding contribution to youth justice in Scotland, and his tireless energies to bringing about change. He will be retiring at the end of this month, so it seems especially fitting and he will be very much missed.

If you’d like to make a nomination for the Butler Trust Awards this year, you can do so here.  The deadline is June 30, so plenty of time to think about names. And if you’re coming to our conference, then you’ll get to hear from past winners.

We were also very proud of ‘Paul’, our placement from HMP Greenock, whose thoughtful paper on shame and stigma in criminal justice system, and powerful blog about his own experiences were published this month. If you haven’t done so already, please give these a read, and share widely. For more background on our Scottish Prison Service work placements and why we believe in giving someone a second chance, read Nina Vaswani’s blog.

On the subject of stigma, I’m part of a knowledge exchange programme on Stigma in Childhood, which is funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute. Three workshops will bring together learning from theory, research, policy and practice, to promote change for children and young people living with stigma and marginalisation. Learn more here. We’ll keep you updated on progress and outcomes, but if this is something you think you’d like to get involved in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via cycj@strath.ac.uk.

Finally, don’t forget to check out our events page and get signed up. We’ve got a seminar with our Associates, which we’re co-hosting with the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) and a chance to debate the real costs of youth justice on May 3. And not forgetting our youth justice conference in June!

Happy reading and as always – get in touch with your news, views and stories.

Claire Lightowler
CYCJ Director

Year of Young People 2018

2018 has been designated as the Year of Young People.  The aim is to inspire Scotland through its young people, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contribution to communities and creating new opportunities for them to shine locally, nationally and globally. Children in Scotland, Youth Parliament and Young Scot are working in partnership to make this happen.

Young people aged eight to 26 are now being sought to become ambassadors, who will represent the YOYP in their local communities. Please share this with the children and young people that you work with, and encourage them to take part. Find out more.

Managing risk of serious harm

Following last month’s event on managing high risk, our March Info Sheet summarises the various ways in which young people who have committed a serious sexual offence or are considered a serious risk of harm can be managed. Download it here.

The journey of an EM Champion

In 2016 four youth justice volunteers agreed to be electronically ‘tagged’ by G4S to raise awareness of Movement Restriction Conditions (MRCs). They recorded their experiences for CYCJ. Donna McEwan, has taken this a step further, blogging in her capacity as an Electronic Monitoring Champion about why there’s still a long journey ahead for MRCs in Scotland. Read her blog here.  

Keeping you informed of the figures

We have been publishing monthly averages of the number of young people in secure care and custody since December 2015. The average number of young people in custody in February 2017 was:

Date	Under 16	Untried under 16	Convicted Male U18	Convicted Female U18	Untried Male U18	Untried Female U18	Convicted Awaiting Sentence U18	Total average
February 2017	0	0	28	0	20	0	7	55
January 2017	0	0	27	0	18	1	6	52

 
During February there was on average 75 young people in secure care, an average of seven of whom were sentenced. This compares with 78 and seven respectively during January 2017. For more details, please contact deborah.nolan@strath.ac.uk.

Changing the Children's Hearing System

CYCJ and CELCIS have responded to the Education and Skill’s Committee’s call for evidence on changes to the Children’s Hearing System since the introduction of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. Read the response here.
 
This highlights the progress made so far, and suggest areas for future development, including:

• Ensuring the child is truly at the centre
• High quality evidence and decision making
• All professionals are clear of theirs and others roles

News from our Implementation Groups

The Implementation Groups were set up as part of the Scottish Government’s Youth Justice Strategy. Project managed by CYCJ and governed by the Youth Justice Improvement Board, they are on the themes of: Improving Life Chances; Advancing the Whole System Approach; Developing Capacity and Improvement.

The Improving Life Chances Implementation Group continues to map out existing areas of work that the group can feed into via the schedule of external drivers. They are continuing to develop and finalise papers on young people’s health and wellbeing, relationships, and the scoping study into the information and support provided to young victims of youth offending.  The next meeting will take place on May 15. Contact deborah.nolan@strath.ac.uk.

The Advancing the Whole System Approach Implementation Group met on March 1 to discuss:

• Overview of the research undertaken with lived experience groups in HMYOI Polmont. Recommendations were submitted to the Youth Justice Improvement Board for their consideration and direction.
• Update on the work of the bail sub-group with the completion of the literature review
• The previous highlighted EEI paper is currently in progress and once completed will be taken forward by the WSA group
• Presentation by Secure Care National Project highlighting the recommendations from this work so far

The next meeting takes place on May 22. Contact donna.mcewan@strath.ac.uk. 

 Developing Capacity and Improvement Implementation Group The draft Youth Justice Outcomes, Performance and Improvement Framework was presented at the Youth Justice Improvement Board for consideration and they are in agreement with the proposed direction of travel. Further comments will be sought from stakeholders and development of the framework will be progressed. Contact carole.murphy.100@strath.ac.uk.

Events and training

The Price of Prejudice: April 6
In this joint CYCJ and SCCJR seminar, CYCJ Associates Max Rutherford (Criminal Justice Programme Manager at Barrow Cadbury Trust) and Dr Fernando Fernandes (Community Learning and Development, University of Dundee) will present on challenging stigmatising practise in the justice system, and much more. Register here.

The Cost of Youth Justice: May 3
While youth offending in Scotland has declined, the costs to those involved are significant.  But what do we know about young people involved in offending?  Are they really either a victim or a perpetrator?  These questions - and more - will be discussed at our free event as part of Engage with Strathclyde Week on May 3 at 5.30pm. Sign up here.

START AV training: May 12
CYCJ is offering training in START AV (Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability – Adolescent Version). This will take place on Friday, May 12, 2017 (Room 218, Lord Hope Building at Strathclyde University). Register via our one stop shop.

National Youth Justice Conference – June 21 and 22
The biggest event of the Scottish youth justice calendar will take place at the Stirling Court Hotel (based on the Stirling University campus). Celebrating the fact that this is the 10^th annual conference, the 2017 theme will be ‘Youth Justice - past, present and future’. Find out more and apply. Please note the closing date for applications is Thursday, April 13.

New Roadshow: the Whole System Approach
CYCJ is offering a half day roadshow on ‘The Whole System Approach: responding to complexity and lessons learned’.

This will discuss the Whole System Approach (WSA), what it is, the rationale behind this, how it has attempted to respond to the complexity of the lives of children involved in offending, and what has been achieved. It will particularly explore what Community Justice can learn from the WSA, and will consider the potential for extending this to adults.  Contact cycj@strath.ac.uk to find out more and book this roadshow for your workplace.

CYCJ roadshows are a way of bringing bespoke training to busy practitioners across Scotland. To find out what we can offer your local authority, click here.
 
Thank you for your feedback
Evaluation reports from the National Youth Justice Conference 2016 and Managing and Responding to High Risk in Young People conference are now available online. This feedback will help share the direction of future events and training.
 

News and views

The Ministerial Statement from the Deputy First Minister on Information sharing provisions in relation to Part 4 & Part 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 is now available online.

Polishing our Gems: A Call for Action on Childhood Adversity’ conference took place in November 2016, and the NHS report is now available. Download it here.

Families Outside’s Support and Information Helpline can now be reached on 0800 254 0088, following a change in Ofcom regulations. There’s also the new Live Webchat Service – available to everyone accessing the Families Outside website for information and support.

All the Little Lights, a ‘poignant and darkly funny’ play about exploitation, is now touring the UK. Find out more.

Stakeholder spotlight

6VT Edinburgh City Youth Cafe

6VT Edinburgh City Youth Cafe is a unique charitable service that is open three nights and five days a week. The cafe offers a drop in service which supports young people in a safe, fun and interactive environment. The team also host Terrace Tots, a young parent group and Keysteps, an independent living skills course aimed at young people aged 16 to 24 years old.

6VT has a brand new project to 2017, the Cairn Project. This is a specialised support project that works with young people aged 12-18 years old from Edinburgh, who have experienced crime in differing capacities. The project offers a tiered support service that helps and supports young people to build resilience, change unproductive thought patterns, increase happiness and divert those at risk of offending (due to previous victimisation experiences) to new opportunities.

The Cairn team work with young people on a 1:1 basis, where they offer emotional support, through building a trusting relationship. Alongside this the team offers young people practical support, which consists of court preparation visits and attending relevent meetings. The Cairn Project will be facilitating therapeutic group work in the spring, where young people can embrace a transformation in their lives. The team also offer continuous phone and online support. Look out for an official launch event in the spring!

The team are now taking referrals. You can contact them via cairnteam@6vt.info or call 0131 229 1797