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Chitsabesan, Prathiba ; Bailey, Sue ; Williams, Richard ; Kroll, Leo ; Kenning, Cassandra ; Talbot, Louise
2007 Journal of Children's Services
This article is based on a study that was commissioned by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. We report on the learning profiles and education needs of a cohort of young offenders who were recruited for the study. The research was a national cross-sectional survey of 301 young offenders who were resident in custodial settings or attending youth offending teams in the community. The young people were assessed using the WASI and the WORD measures to obtain psychometric information (IQ scores and reading/reading comprehension ages). One in five (20%) young people met the ICD-10 criteria for mental retardation (IQ<70), while problems with reading (52%) and reading comprehension (61%) were common. Verbal IQ scores were found to be significantly lower than performance IQ scores, particularly in male offenders. It is clear from these results that a large proportion of juvenile offenders have a learning disability, as characterised by an IQ<70 and significantly low reading and reading comprehension ages. The underlying aetiology of this association is less clear and may be a consequence of both an increased prevalence of neurocognitive deficits and the impact of poor schooling. There is some evidence that developmental pathways may be different for boys compared with girls.
Prathiba Chitsabesan; Sue Bailey; Richard Williams; Leo Kroll; Cassandra Kenning; Louise Talbot
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700032
This article is based on a study that was commissioned by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. We report on the learning profiles and education needs of a cohort of young offenders who were recruited for the study. The research was a national cross‐sectional survey of 301 young offenders who were resident in custodial settings or attending youth offending teams in the community. The young people were assessed using the WASI and the WORD measures to obtain psychometric information (IQ scores and reading/reading comprehension ages). One in five (20%) young people met the ICD‐10 criteria for mental retardation (IQ<70), while problems with reading (52%) and reading comprehension (61%) were common. Verbal IQ scores were found to be significantly lower than performance IQ scores, particularly in male offenders. It is clear from these results that a large proportion of juvenile offenders have a learning disability, as characterised by an IQ<70 and significantly low reading and reading comprehension ages. The underlying aetiology of this association is less clear and may be a consequence of both an increased prevalence of neurocognitive deficits and the impact of poor schooling. There is some evidence that developmental pathways may be different for boys compared with girls.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700033
Resettlement programmes provide support for young offenders during their custodial sentence and for approximately nine months after release. This article describes how the costs and benefits of providing an effective service of this kind were estimated based on the ‘RESET’ programme, published evidence on the costs of crime and the likely reduction in offending due to an intensive support programme. The cost of crime has been estimated at £46,459 per year (after allowing for a reduction due to the time spent in custody), plus prison custody at an average of £30,475 and emergency accommodation at an average of £1,106, making a total of £78,040 for each offender. Using a fairly modest assumption that good support in resettlement could lead to approximately a 35% reduction in frequency and a 10% reduction in seriousness of offending, a saving of £20,407 per offender per year could be achieved. These savings would more than offset the average cost of a good quality resettlement service of £8,074. The scheme would break even if the frequency of offending were reduced by only 20%.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
Resettlement programmes provide support for young offenders during their custodial sentence and for approximately nine months after release. This article describes how the costs and benefits of providing an effective service of this kind were estimated based on the ‘RESET’ programme, published evidence on the costs of crime and the likely reduction in offending due to an intensive support programme. The cost of crime has been estimated at £46,459 per year (after allowing for a reduction due to the time spent in custody), plus prison custody at an average of £30,475 and emergency accommodation at an average of £1,106, making a total of £78,040 for each offender. Using a fairly modest assumption that good support in resettlement could lead to approximately a 35% reduction in frequency and a 10% reduction in seriousness of offending, a saving of £20,407 per offender per year could be achieved. These savings would more than offset the average cost of a good quality resettlement service of £8,074. The scheme would break even if the frequency of offending were reduced by only 20%.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
Child impact statements are a tool for assessing the potential impact of policy, provision, legislation etc on children. Although now predominantly based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the concept preceded this Convention. This article is based on a literature review and a series of face-to-face and telephone interviews with relevant Irish civil and public servants and NGOs. It sets out the rationale for child impact statements and the experience of using them in Sweden, the UK, Flanders and Ireland, before highlighting the strengths and weaknesses in existing models. It then presents a number of difficulties with the approach as a means of improving children's well-being and argues that there is insufficient evidence to support their widespread introduction as a primary means of achieving positive policy outcomes for children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700034
Child impact statements are a tool for assessing the potential impact of policy, provision, legislation etc on children. Although now predominantly based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the concept preceded this Convention. This article is based on a literature review and a series of face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with relevant Irish civil and public servants and NGOs. It sets out the rationale for child impact statements and the experience of using them in Sweden, the UK, Flanders and Ireland, before highlighting the strengths and weaknesses in existing models. It then presents a number of difficulties with the approach as a means of improving children's well‐being and argues that there is insufficient evidence to support their widespread introduction as a primary means of achieving positive policy outcomes for children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
Earlier Nordic comparative studies show variation between countries in child welfare practice, reflecting cultural differences, and that case workers share the norms, values and attitudes of their society. Can cultural factors be concretised for discussion? Child welfare workers in Denmark, Iceland and Norway were presented with five child care stories (vignettes) that focused on the ‘threshold’ between preventive measures and out-of-home care (consensual or compulsory). Vignette themes included parental neglect, maternal alcohol misuse and youth problems. Study participants gave written answers to the vignettes and took part in group discussions with colleagues. The results showed significant differences between countries in case workers' responses. Variations in arguments, decisions, use of compulsion and working style reflected national views and priorities. A central dimension was how case workers balanced parental interests with children's needs: in Denmark they were reluctant to intervene with parental rights, whereas the Norwegians were more accepting of compulsory decisions to protect children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700035
Earlier Nordic comparative studies show variation between countries in child welfare practice, reflecting cultural differences, and that case workers share the norms, values and attitudes of their society. Can cultural factors be concretised for discussion? Child welfare workers in Denmark, Iceland and Norway were presented with five child care stories (vignettes) that focused on the ‘threshold’ between preventive measures and out‐of‐home care (consensual or compulsory). Vignette themes included parental neglect, maternal alcohol misuse and youth problems. Study participants gave written answers to the vignettes and took part in group discussions with colleagues. The results showed significant differences between countries in case workers' responses. Variations in arguments, decisions, use of compulsion and working style reflected national views and priorities. A central dimension was how case workers balanced parental interests with children's needs: in Denmark they were reluctant to intervene with parental rights, whereas the Norwegians were more accepting of compulsory decisions to protect children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700036
Contrary to prevailing wisdom, international development does not either succeed or fail. It does both. With reference to case study material gleaned from working with both grant‐makers and international civil society organisations, this article critiques both the assumptions and organisation of development. Development initiatives create small islands of beneficial change for children but in general suffer from donor‐led managerial approaches, the dominance of upward accountability to Northern agencies, poor relationships and the tendency to both generalise and simplify. Globally, governments and civil society are failing to protect millions of vulnerable children and promote their participation in decision‐making. But better outcomes for children are possible. This article articulates the problems but also demonstrates how: (1) partnerships could be reoriented so that power relations are continually challenged; (2) planning mechanisms could be more focused and efficient; and (3) innovation, learning and reflective action could be promoted so that practice is appropriate to the context and therefore promotes better outcomes for children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
Contrary to prevailing wisdom, international development does not either succeed or fail. It does both. With reference to case study material gleaned from working with both grant-makers and international civil society organisations, this article critiques both the assumptions and organisation of development. Development initiatives create small islands of beneficial change for children but in general suffer from donor-led managerial approaches, the dominance of upward accountability to Northern agencies, poor relationships and the tendency to both generalise and simplify. Globally, governments and civil society are failing to protect millions of vulnerable children and promote their participation in decision-making. But better outcomes for children are possible. This article articulates the problems but also demonstrates how: (1) partnerships could be reoriented so that power relations are continually challenged; (2) planning mechanisms could be more focused and efficient; and (3) innovation, learning and reflective action could be promoted so that practice is appropriate to the context and therefore promotes better outcomes for children.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
doi: 10.1108/17466660200700037
Ireland is now the hub of much activity around children's services ‐ at central and local government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and engaging some of the more disadvantaged communities. Previous articles in the series have looked at the origins and work of the government Office of the Minister for Children, which is overseeing the reform programme (Langford, 2007), the role of $200 million philanthropic investment in this work (Little & Abunimah, 2007) and how the new approach is translating into practice in local communities (Zappone, 2007).Here, Owen Keenan, former Chief Executive of Barnardos1, offers his personal perspective on the work. He starts by tracing how Ireland moved from having under‐developed services and limited suitable research capacity to having the potential within the next 10 years to become one of the best places in the world for children to grow up in. He highlights the roles played by international collaborations, indigenous advocacy (focused on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) and philanthropic investment in helping to usher in a new paradigm of evidence‐based, outcome‐focused services. He then outlines the main challenges as he sees them if the potential is to be realised ‐ for example, improving relationships between stakeholders and strengthening service design and evaluation capacity. Finally, he summarises what has been learnt about undertaking (and undergoing) such farreaching change processes.
2007 Journal of Children's Services
Ireland is now the hub of much activity around children's services - at central and local government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and engaging some of the more disadvantaged communities. Previous articles in the series have looked at the origins and work of the government Office of the Minister for Children, which is overseeing the reform programme (Langford, 2007), the role of $200 million philanthropic investment in this work (Little & Abunimah, 2007) and how the new approach is translating into practice in local communities (Zappone, 2007). Here, Owen Keenan, former Chief Executive of Barnardos 1 , offers his personal perspective on the work. He starts by tracing how Ireland moved from having under-developed services and limited suitable research capacity to having the potential within the next 10 years to become one of the best places in the world for children to grow up in. He highlights the roles played by international collaborations, indigenous advocacy (focused on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) and philanthropic investment in helping to usher in a new paradigm of evidence-based, outcome-focused services. He then outlines the main challenges as he sees them if the potential is to be realised - for example, improving relationships between stakeholders and strengthening service design and evaluation capacity. Finally, he summarises what has been learnt about undertaking (and undergoing) such farreaching change processes.