Supplementary memorandum submitted by the Youth Justice Board (CJ&I 369)

I welcomed the opportunity for the Youth Justice Board to give evidence to the Committee on Thursday 18 October This letter is to provide further information on two points which arose in the Committee session.

Firstly the question was raised about drug treatment services provided for young people through Youth Offending Teams.

Since 2004/5, all Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales have been screening young offenders for substance misuse, in order to ensure that those with identified need receive assessment and the appropriate intervention. All YOTs are funded to provide substance misuse workers to support screening, early intervention and referral to specialist services. Young peoples specialist substance misuse treatment services are currently funded via the National Treatment Agency (NTA) ‘Pooled Treatment Budget’ which is included within the Young Peoples Substance Misuse Partnership Grant; there is an expectation that Local Children’s and Young Peoples Partnerships ensure that children and young people can access the full range of treatment modes as outlined in the National Treatment Agency guidance. The majority of young offenders receiving treatment for substance misuse access services on a voluntary basis via provision commissioned locally. Only 30 young offenders had Drug Treatment and Testing Orders in 2005/6, i.e. had identified treatment needs but needed further coercion and support to encourage attendance at specialist substance misuse treatment services.

The current YJB and National Treatment Agency target is that young offenders with identified need should receive assessment within 5 days of screening and intervention within 10 days of assessment. The following tables of statistics show for the years 2004-5, 2005-6 and 2006-7 the numbers of young offenders reported as requiring assessment or early intervention and treatment and the numbers receiving assessment and intervention within the target time periods. You will note that the figures indicate that there has been some improvement, including an increase in the number of young offenders receiving specialist treatment. The YJB will continue to work with partners to improve performance.

Table A below sets out the number of young offenders reported as requiring assessment, early intervention and treatment across England and Wales for the years 2004/5, 2005/6 and 2006/7.

Table A

Year	Requiring Assessment	Requiring Early Intervention	Requiring Specialist Treatment
2004/5	17,524	8,224	3,327
2005/6	15,414	9,141	4,293
2006/7	14,458	8,230	5,029

Table B sets out the number of young offenders reported to be receiving assessment within 10 days of screening, and receiving an intervention within 20 days of screening.

Table B

Year	Receiving Assessment	Receiving Early Intervention	Receiving Specialist Treatment
2004/5**	12,885	7,672	2,973
2005/6	13,150	8,786