Joint thematic inspection of resettlement services to children

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation has published a report today on how resettlement services for children across the country can improve.

These services can help children prepare for and adjust back into life after prison, such as on seeking employment and education, finding accommodation and on coping with life without reoffending (nearly 70 percent of children in custody reoffending within a year of returning to the community).

As many people who have been in prison have used mental health and substance misuse services, we contributed towards the findings in the report through joint inspections with HMIP and have made recommendations on how resettlement can be improved for those involved.

Overall, the report found that a lack of suitable, settled and supported accommodation, a deficiency in services to meet mental health and substance misuse issues and an absence of education, training and employment meant children missed opportunities during their transition.

In response, we have recommended health care commissioners and providers share information with other agencies better, fuller integration of health planning with sentence planning and increased treatment continuity in transition between community and secure settings. We are keen for children’s experiences of resettlement to be smoother, supporting the child’s health needs as part of a broader package of support.

This joint thematic inspection of resettlement services to children by Youth Offending Teams and partner agencies is the latest in a series of thematic inspections by HMI Probation and CQC which complement the ongoing schedule of inspections of youth offending teams.

You can find out more information about this work in the full report.