Minutes:
Question
In relation to agenda item 36, Youth Offending Service, I note that on page 58 of the agenda under Operational Practice, it mentions that preventative and early intervention work will be done in schools. With this in mind, I’m surprised it doesn’t mention a restorative justice programme being introduced in the Borough’s schools. Restorative justice has been proven to be successful in the justice system and in schools, and Andy Couldrick, previous CEO of this Council, started rolling it out across various services, including schools, but for some reason, this project stalled, despite the reported success it was having. Will the Youth Offending Service consider rolling this out more fully?
Answer
The implementation of restorative approaches in schools was previously supported through Police and Crime Commissioner funded Youth Workers being attached to specific settings, the Youth Offending Service was not involved in this project.
Some schools in the Borough do adopt a restorative practice approach in relation to wider behaviour management practice. Where schools are engaged in this approach they select their own training based on needs and preferences. Schools that adopt a restorative approach to behaviour management do so as part of their strategic decision making in relation to their school ethos, adopting strategies that they believe will best deliver their vision. Where schools make reference to a restorative approach this is usually found in school behaviour management policies.
Whilst the Youth Offending Service engages in restorative approaches, as part of its juvenile justice, this occurs on a smaller scale, with the overarching aim of reducing the risk of children becoming criminalised. Some examples of this include 1:1 work with children and delivering training to children’s homes in the Wokingham area. As part of the Youth Justice Plan, it has been agreed that in 2020 the Restorative Justice worker will deliver training to Foster Carers and the Fostering Team, the aim of which is to reduce the occurrence of children in care becoming criminalised.
The Youth Offending Service would be happy to engage with colleagues in any developments of restorative work in schools.
Supplementary question
Thank you, I noticed that it was mentioned about the Foster Carers and the Foster Carers Team and the schools that I am aware that currently have this, St Crispin’s is a good example of one of the schools have gone down this route and benefited from this funding. There were other schools in the phase 2 roll out though that were going to benefit from the programme, what can we do for this to continue?
Supplementary answer
Adam Davis, Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care stated that this depended on what approach schools used, the Youth Services did not have the resources to fund this.
Gillian Cole, Service Manager Schools stated that schools were using their own training budget for this.
Councillor Miall stated that around eight years ago the Council had cut the funding for youth support due to Budget constraints. He believed that the Council should consider investing in this service again if the resources became available.
Officers were not able to ascertain where the funding for this service had come from, it was possible that this might have been a one off funding grant. Some Members suggested that this deserved further consideration, including a cost/benefit analysis.