Recommendation 15

HM Government Acknowledged

Since introducing the youth justice specialist role, we have provided funding for every prison officer in the youth secure estate, both public and private, to take up a degree level qualification in youth justice. As referenced above, as of March, there were 201 youth justice specialist officers already in post. A further 227 staff are currently signed up or undertaking the learning, with the next cohort due to start in June with up to 130 more frontline staff participating. In addition, there are an extra 20 Band 4 Youth Justice Workers from the Unlocked Graduates scheme working in the youth secure estate. We will continuously review the qualification, including how we can continue to skill staff to work with children in custody. We are currently reviewing staff turnover in public sites within the youth secure estate. The review will focus on frontline positions from entry grade Youth Justice Worker to Custodial Managers, with an emphasis on resignations and the role of the youth justice specialist and where this has influenced attrition. This review is ongoing with a provisional reporting date of 30 June 2021, as by that time there should be sufficient recent data to draw some appropriate conclusions.