Unhealthy Young Offenders

email to a friend | user comments

Published: 06 November 2006

Unhealthy Young Offenders

A report by the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation has found that too many young offenders have insufficient access to healthcare, particularly the large proportion needing mental health services.

The report looked at 50 out of 155 youth offending teams (YOTs) in England and Wales, in response to the high number of recommendations made to healthcare organisations under the inspection programme of youth offending teams since 2003.

The report says that one in six YOTs did not have a healthcare worker, even though primary care trusts (PCTs) have a statutory duty to provide one.

One third of YOTS did not have a mental health worker, even though 40% of child and young offenders have emotional or mental health needs having been more likely to have been in care, witnessed violence in the home or have been the victim of crime.

Many young offenders often have difficulties in gaining access to mainstream health services due to a lack of parental support.

The inspector’s findings do show some positive features:

· the increase in the availability of healthcare services for child and young offenders since 2003, for instance just over 80% of health workers now report good access to Child and Adolescent mental health services for advice and support

· a high number of youth offending teams (90%) that have good access to both a substance misuse expert and substance misuse services

· an improvement in the provision of child and adolescent mental health services for youth offending teams, including the increasing proportion of health workers with mental health backgrounds

· clear and consistent approach to substance misuse work across England and Wales.

However the inspectorates have found that there are substantial areas for improvement:

· 60% of youth offending teams did not have adequate involvement by a healthcare professional at strategic/board level

· a wide variation in the work of youth offending team healthcare workers that did not always reflect the health needs of the young people

· up to a third of youth offending teams had inadequate screening for health and drug misuse problems and assessment processes

· at least a third of youth offending teams had inadequate record keeping or information sharing policies

· one in three YOTS had no formal protocols for holding the NHS to account for their services

· 16 and 17 year olds are particularly disadvantaged by the provision of child and adolescent mental health services with a clear gap in services for this age group

Healthcare Commission Chief Executive Anna Walker said:

“The consequences of not providing support to these children are dire for the young person and the local community.

Children and young people are responsible for 25% of all crimes in the UK and 40% of those who commit crimes have mental health problems.

Many others may have substance misuse issues or have been the victims of abuse or crime themselves.

All primary care trusts must fulfil their statutory duty to provide healthcare workers to their local youth offending teams. We will ensure that efforts made in this area are reflected in our annual assessment of all NHS trusts.”

The Inspectorates has published recommendations for the health service and youth offending teams

Most importantly, they recommend:

· that every PCT ensures that it fulfils its statutory duty and provides at least one healthcare worker to their local youth offending team

· that every child up to 18 years has access to good quality mental health services as outlined in the National Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity

· that appropriate health representatives attend and participate in the management board of local youth offending teams

· that the Department of Health and the Youth Justice Board research the most effective ways of providing healthcare to youth offending teams

Further information:

Lets talk about it - A review of healthcare in the community for young people who offend

Healthcare Commission

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Young Offenders Mental Health Network

Wired for Health

Department of Health: Mental Health Surveys

Related Articles:

Protecting Mental Health Patients and the Public

Integrated Child Care Services