Risk, Safety and Wellbeing Management Policy and Guidance

1. Introduction

The aim of this guidance is to ensure there are clear Policies and Procedures for managing risk of serious harm and likelihood of re-offending in Bracknell Youth Offending Service's work with young people.

For the purpose of these Policies and Procedures the term 'risk' is taken to mean:

“the probability that an event or behaviour carrying the possibility of an adverse or negative outcome will occur”
(Kemshall, 1998)

The nature of working with risk means that on occasion, some serious incidents or undesirable outcomes can occur, even when every effort has been made to reduce the risk. Managing risk is the responsibility of every member of the Bracknell Youth Offending Team including administrative and volunteer workers.

2. Types of Risk

Within the Youth Justice System there are three types of risk and it is important to distinguish between them:

• Likelihood of re-offending;
• Safety and wellbeing;
• Serious harm to others.

Young people can present more than one type of risk, for example a young person may be involved in behaviour that puts others at risk whilst at the same time they may be themselves at risk of being harmed.

Risk is relevant at all stages of the Youth Justice System and should be considered irrespective of a young person's stage of involvement for example a young person on a youth caution may present a risk to others but a young person on a custodial sentence may not.

3. Defensible Decision Making

It is essential therefore, that Bracknell Youth Offending Team workers can account for the decisions they have made and are able to demonstrate the process they went through in making that decision, this is known as defensible decision-making. As Holloway (1997) argues:

“The very worst clinical practice does not involve making wrong decisions (however these might be defined), but the failure to make any decisions at all. Good practice requires decision-making that has a rationale, clear-cut expectation of outcome, and provision for change in the treatment plan if the expected outcome does not occur.”

Defensible decision-making should ensure practitioners feel less anxious about being blamed unnecessarily because they have:

• Evidence that thorough consideration was given based on all the information available, at that time, and there is clear recording of the reasons for conclusions or recommendations.

4. Enforcement

Youth Conditional Cautions and Youth Court Orders need to be enforced in accordance with the National Standards for Youth Justice and in line with the Bracknell Youth Offending Team Policies and Procedures on enforcement and this is particularly important where concerns about one or more types of risk have been identified. This should also include checks that have been made as a result of monitoring or surveillance that has been put in place.

5. Transfer of Cases

On occasion it is necessary to transfer cases to other Youth Offending Services or to the National Probation Service. Practitioners must follow the procedure for the transfer of cases. In respect of the latter, these procedures can be found in the Joint National protocol for Transitions in England.

6. Information Sharing

There will be a need to share information with partner and external agencies to ensure, as far as possible, that staff are safe in managing the risks posed by YOT clients and to also maximise the opportunity for young offenders to receive the appropriate support they require. Bracknell Forest Community Safety Partnership has an Information Sharing Protocol and details agencies that have signed up to this arrangement, including YOT.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 allows the Youth Offending Team to share information for reasons associated with the prevention and detection of crime.

7. The Risk of Re-Offending

The risk of re-offending is the likelihood that an individual will commit further offences.

A key goal of the Bracknell Youth Offending Team is to find interventions and utilise external resources that are likely to reduce the risk of re-offending.

7.1 Intensity and Nature of Interventions

The National Standards for Youth Justice sets out the level of supervision that a young person, subject to a specific type of order should receive in accordance with the 'scaled approach'.

The interventions offered to young people must be tailored to meet their individual needs and reduce their chances of re-offending. For that reason, the young person's intervention plan must be based on those needs as assessed by ASSET plus. The frequency and number of appointments young people will have with the Youth Offending Team and/or their partner agencies will be determined by the ASSET plus assessment based upon the 'scaled approach'. The frequency and number of appointments will never be less than that specified unless it has been discussed with and agreed by the Operational Manager or Head of the Life Chances Service.

The ASSET plus (electronically recorded on Child view Youth Justice (CVYJ)) is the core assessment document and all evidence boxes must be completed comprehensively. The ASSET plus self-assessment completed by the young person and parent(s) should also be used for contributing to the assessment of the likelihood of re-offending.

ASSET plus must be updated every 6 months or more frequently if a significant change in circumstances occurs, so that a judgement can be made about the likelihood of re-offending at timely intervals and whether the intervention is meeting the young person's individual needs. It must also be updated at the end of the period of supervision so an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention can be made and the ongoing likelihood of reoffending can be assessed and determine the exit strategy. ASSET plus should also determine the nature of interventions to be developed to address the most significant risk.

• Case Managers are responsible for ensuring referrals are made to specialist workers and outside agencies/professionals and that all referrals are recorded on CVYJ;
• Case Managers are responsible for referring young people to the relevant specialist worker;
• Specialist Workers are responsible for recording their assessments and their interventions on CVYJ.

Referrals to external voluntary and partner agencies that need to be made in respect of individual young people must be recorded on CVYJ and case managers must ensure that young people's progress with other agencies is recorded and monitored. These appointments will count towards a young person's reporting requirements under the terms of the 'scaled approach'.

The targeted areas of risk of reoffending should be part of the Integrated Intervention Plan and in the case of Referral Orders the contract agreed with the Volunteer Community Panel Members. These plans must be completed by the case manager together with the young person and a signed copy of the completed YOT Integrated Intervention Plan template must be held on the young person's file.

In respect to Referral Orders, case managers should, when advising Volunteer Panel Members, consider the range of external and internal controls that can be included in a Referral Order contract. Please refer to the YJB Guidance as necessary.

The ASSET plus assessment must also be used in deciding whether a young person should be included in the monthly multi agency discussion meeting for managing high risk young offenders (formerly DYO). Young people who are assessed at the 'intensive' level according to the 'scaled approach' will be added to the high-risk offender list and discussed in the multi-agency monthly meeting chaired by the YOT.

Case managers must also consider exit strategies in relevant cases to ensure continued support once their statutory work with the Youth Offending Team has ended. Completion of an Early Help Assessment (previously called CAF) will be considered. In many cases an Early Help Assessment will not be necessary if a lead agency can be identified e.g. Adviza, Children's Social Care.

8. Safety and Wellbeing

Safety and Wellbeing is the risk that a young person might be harmed in some way, due to the actions or omissions of others, or as a result of their own or others ill informed choices which may inadvertently lead them into behaviour which is dangerous and/or reckless.

This category of risk would therefore include all categories of child protection, including child exploitation (CE) and going missing from home or school, self-harm/suicide and may include young people being remanded or sentenced for a period in the secure estate.

ASSET plus is the initial screening tool for assessing a young person's safety and wellbeing, the type of harm they are vulnerable to and the level of risk they face must also be assessed. The ASSET plus self-assessment completed by the young person and parent(s) should also be used for contributing to the assessment of safety and wellbeing. A CE risk assessment must be completed in all cases.

In respect of Referral Orders case managers should, when advising Volunteer Panel Members, consider the range of protective factors that can be included in a Referral Order contract.

All cases assessed as 'high risk' or above will be discussed at monthly High-Risk Offender meetings. These meetings will be chaired by the YOT Operational Manager and minutes will be taken and recorded on CVYJ. Case Managers will attend, and other professionals as appropriate.

Practitioners must ensure they are familiar with and follow, without delay, the Bracknell Forest Safeguarding young people policy and Berkshire Child Protection procedures where there is an immediate risk to young people they are working with or in instances where they feel concerned about other children in the family. The welfare of young people and children is paramount in this respect. Both policies can be found on the Bracknell Forest LSCB website. All case managers must ensure that 'Working Together to Safeguard Children and Young People' 2018 is readily available on their desktop.

9. Communicating with Youth Detention Accommodation Staff

All young people remanded or sentenced to a period in Youth Detention Accommodation (YDA) must be assessed immediately after they have appeared in Court and a Post Court Report Form completed.

If there are concerns about a young person's safety and wellbeing this must be noted on the form and sent to the placement electronically. The appropriate YDA establishment must be contacted immediately and alerted to concerns.

9.1 Communicating with Custody Suite Staff and Appropriate Adults

When the Youth Offending Team is notified of a young person is being held in a police custody suite it is the responsibility of the Youth Offending Team Duty Worker to ensure;

• Records are checked (including any information held by social services);
• The Custody Sergeant is informed of any concerns that may affect the health, welfare and safety of a young person or member of staff;
• Appropriate Adults should be kept informed of any concerns and they should also ensure any concerns they may have is passed to the police without delay.

To ensure all members of the Team use a common language when discussing a young person's safety and wellbeing and the level of risk they face the following should be used when discussing and recording such matters:

• Low – means there are no specific behaviours, events or people currently indicating that the young person is vulnerable to harm;
• Medium – means there is some specific vulnerability that can be addressed as part of the normal supervision process;
• High – means there are clear indications of specific vulnerability requiring attention soon, and which may require involvement by other agencies or people. The case may need additional monitoring (e.g. local registration, oversight by middle/senior management);
• Very high – means statutory thresholds have been reached in respect of child protection and/or immediate action needs to be taken to prevent imminent harm to the young person (e.g. suicide/self-harm). Action is required that may involve intensive multi-agency support and monitoring.

10. Serious Harm to Others

Serious harm means death or injury (either physical or psychological) which is life threatening and/or traumatic and from which recovery is expected to be difficult, incomplete or impossible.

All relevant cases will have a Risk of Serious Harm assessed within ASSET plus and those that are assessed as Medium or above must have a corresponding Integrated Intervention plan which must be completed on the template within CVYJ and countersigned by the YOT Operational Manager or Head of Service. AIM assessments will be completed on young people who have committed sexual offences in appropriate cases.

All cases assessed as posing a risk of serious harm to others will be discussed at YOT monthly Risk Focus Meetings and in line management monthly supervision.

11. Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) were introduced under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 to meet the public's need for protection from offenders who present a risk of serious harm to others. The Act also created 'Responsible Authorities' which were, initially, the police and the National Probation Service. The Criminal Justice Act strengthened these arrangements by making the Prison Team a Responsible Authority and placing a 'duty to co-operate' with the Responsible Authorities on a range of local statutory services, including YOTs.

Following on from the introduction of MAPPA under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 the Ministry of Justice produced statutory national MAPPA Guidance. The latest guidance is available on the MOJ website.

YOTs therefore have a duty under law to have regard to it in exercising their duties under MAPPA as an organisation with 'duty to cooperate' (DTC).

The guidance states that the four core functions of MAPPA are to:

• Identify all relevant offenders;
• Complete comprehensive risk assessments that take advantage of co-ordinated information sharing across agencies;
• Devise, implement and review robust MAPPA management plans;
• Focus available resources in a way which best protects the public from serious harm.

The revised MoJ guidance acknowledges the past common placed confusion among YOTs and MAPPA coordinators about how MAPPA can help best manage the risks posed by the relatively small numbers of children and young people who present a risk of serious harm to the public. Consequently, the document now includes a section addressing the specific issues raised by children and young people, the key points of which are:

• Under the Children Act 2004 the Responsible Authority and DTC agencies have a statutory duty to make arrangements for ensuring that their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;
• Children should not be treated by MAPPA as 'mini adults' and should not be managed using the same risk assessment tools or processes;
• YOT staff attending MAPPA meetings are not there to represent the local authority; this task should be undertaken by a different person.

11.1 Youth Offending Team Responsibilities

All Youth Offending Teams have a duty to co-operate with the responsible authorities in relation to dangerous young people who offend, and young people who sexually abuse.

Unless a young person is a Looked-After child, YOTs retain overall case responsibility at all times for those young people referred under a MAPPA. In the case of Looked-After children, case responsibility remains with Children's Social Care.

11.2 Structure of MAPPA

There will be appropriate senior representation on Strategic Management Boards as agreed between the Thames Valley YOT Management group.

BF YOT will ensure that the local MAPPA co-ordinator has details of key people within the team and knows who to contact in case of any queries.

11.3 Young people Eligible for MAPPA

YOT Operational Manager will ensure that appropriate processes are in place for identification and notification of MAPPA-eligible cases.

Practitioners need to be familiar with the eligibility criteria and the three MAPPA categories.

If a young person is eligible for MAPPA, this needs to be clearly recorded in the ASSET plus.

11.4 Case Management

All decisions relating to MAPPA-eligible young people must be defensible.

Effective engagement with young people, parents/carers and other agencies is an essential aspect of risk management.

BF YOT will have appropriate representation at any MAPPA meeting at which a young person is being discussed.

YOT will be proactive in suggesting additional attendees for MAPPA meetings who have expertise in risk assessment or can provided specialist resources for young people.

All young people subject to MAPPA will have an Integrated Intervention plan which addresses Risk Management.

Level 1 cases will be reviewed at least every 3months. YOT should contribute fully to MAPPA meeting reviews for level 2 and 3 cases.

Where a young person moves between YOTs or transfers from youth justice to adult criminal justice services, BF YOT will ensure that all relevant information is shared with receiving organisations to maintain seamless supervision.

Case recording needs to be comprehensive, timely and accurate. MAPPA meetings must be recorded in the process stage section of CVYJ.

11.5 Young People in Custody

BF YOT case manager will work closely with the secure estate through the provision of setting the MAPPA management level prior to a young person's release.

The process should take place at least six months prior to release or when the young person will be in custody for less than six months, as soon as is possible.

YOT will contribute to discussions in MAPP level 2 or 3 meetings regarding possible licence conditions to help ensure that any such conditions are proportionate to the level of risk identified.

If a YOT worker wishes to use information from a MAPP meeting in a report for the Parole Board, they must gain approval from the agency which provided the information.

Parole reports should explain what role MAPPA could play in managing risks that the young person may present to others on release.

11.6 Victims

BF YOT will comply with the BF YOT Victim and Restorative Justice Strategy in all cases involving young people subject to MAPPA.

A local protocol is in place, which set out the roles of the YOT and the probation Team in relation to communicating with victims.

Integrated Intervention plans should contain actions to protect victims where appropriate.

11.7 Use of Information

Information sharing in relation to young people subject to MAPPA should be lawful necessary and proportionate and carried out in a safe and secure way. The use of non-encrypted email should be avoided in favour of secure email services provided through either Criminal Justice secure email (CJSM) or Government Connect (GCSX).

Information contained within forms which are part of the MAPPA document set should be handled in accordance with the Government Protective Marking Scheme.

Procedures are in place (through internal risk focus group) for ensuring that decisions about disclosure of information in relation to level 1 cases are regularly reviewed and recorded on case management systems.

BF YOT will contribute fully to discussions at MAPPA level 2 and 3 meetings about disclosure of information and ensure that other agency colleagues understand the sensitivities surrounding disclosure of information about young people.

If a young person wishes to disclose information themselves, the YOT will provide appropriate support and guidance.

All young people subject to MAPPA will have a Visor record. YOT will ensure that the relevant information is passed onto the Police (for Category 1) and the MAPPA coordinator/MAPPA meeting representative (for Categories 2 and 3) to enter the data onto Visor.

11.8 MAPPA Serious Case Reviews

If a MAPPA serious case review is required for a young person, the YOT will secure the case records, provide a single point of contact and provide information to the secure case review lead to inform the review process.

12. Assessment of Dangerousness

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 indicates that, if a young person has a conviction under public protection, they must be considered as dangerous; this must be reflected in the PSR, unless this would be unreasonable.

In making the dangerousness determination the Court:

• Must consider all available information and circumstance of offence;
• May take account of patterns of behaviour of which the offence forms part;
• May take info about the offender that is before the Court.

Despite there being previous specified offences, there is no presumption of dangerousness for the young person. The Court starts from a neutral position and a new assessment of dangerousness must be undertaken on each and every occasion a young person attends Court.

Court has the discretion to:

• Take into account previous patterns of behaviour and thus disregard previous offences;
• Over the significance that can be given to any change in the young person's life;
• On the nature of the offence and may be up to 5 years for a specified violent offence and 8 years for a specified sexual offence.

Once considered Dangerous the young person can only be sentenced by the Crown Court. The Court can change jurisdiction at any point in the trial, including the point of sentencing.

12.1 The Determination of Dangerousness

The decision as to dangerousness is a matter for the Court to decide. The ultimate decision will rest with Crown Court; however, the Youth Court will also be required to have come to a view in order to commit the case for sentence/ trial.

The Youth Offending Team plays a role in collating and presenting material relevant to the decision. The Youth Offending Team will be expected to provide the Court with an assessment of the likely risk that the young person poses.

Predicting future behaviour is inevitably difficult particularly in relation to violence or sexual behaviour. Previous behaviour is the strongest predictor, though far form infallible.

Care must be taken in assessing young people because of their capacity to change significantly within a relatively short time span.

Impact on young people to be determined dangerous may mean a mandatory custodial sentence, which in most cases will be lengthy, thus the Youth Offending Team must ensure any assessment to lead the Court in a certain direction is well founded and reasons for the view presented clearly and justified.

A full YOT Assessment should specify:

• The nature of the behaviour of concern;
• The potential harm or damage should the behaviour occur;
• The probability that the behaviour will occur;
• The likely victim(s);
• The situational context, which will make the behaviour more or less likely.

Further consideration of practice issues and suggested wording is contained in Appendix 1: MAPPA Categories.

Appendix 1: MAPPA Categories