Education for Young Offenders
Research suggests that participation in education, training and employment is a key protective factor in preventing offending and re-offending behaviour.
Preventing young people from engaging in crime is critical to ensuring positive life chances and successful pathways to adulthood. We know that education and training can help young people develop skills for life and work, and help prevent them from falling into cycles of crime. We also know that many young people in the youth justice system face multiple disadvantages; they have complex needs, and often face barriers to engaging in education, training and employment.
The Government is committed to improving education and training for children
and young people supervised by the youth justice system (aged 10-17, and some
young people aged 18 who are nearing the end of their sentence). This
includes young offenders held in juvenile custody, as well as young offenders
supervised by Youth Offending Teams in the community.
How are we addressing these issues?
During summer 2007, the former Department for Education and Skills - in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the Youth Justice Board and the Learning and Skills Council - published a series of consultation papers to consider the key issues affecting education for young offenders ('Education for Young People in the Youth Justice System'). Responses to the consultation fed into policy discussions with key stakeholders and into policy development.
Following the consultation, in the Children's Plan, published December 2007, the Government said: We will consult early in the new year on whether and how local authorities should lead on education and training for young people in custody. This consultation took place within the context of the wider reforms announced for mainstream 16-18 education funding and commissioning as part of the White Paper: Raising Expectations: Enabling the System to deliver . Responses to the consultation on the White Paper demonstrated support for the proposed changes for arrangements for education in juvenile custody and we therefore announced our plans to take this forward within the Youth Crime Action Plan (July 2008). The Government will improve education and training for young offenders by placing duties on local authorities to plan and commission education in juvenile custody. This will mean that for the first time, young offenders in custody are brought under the education legislative regime. The Youth Crime Action Plan also set out wider commitments to improve education and training for young offenders, including to:
- Develop new performance management arrangements which place greater focus
on progression and achievement
- Consider how we best meet young offenders special educational needs
- Develop a national delivery framework for education and training in
custody, with requirements for local agreements between partners
- Develop guidance for local authorities
- Develop and implement a quality improvement strategy
- Consult on a more comprehensive package of support for children leaving
custody, including pathway plans for young people linked to Personal Education
Plans.
This page was last updated on 05 September 2008
