A Youth Crime Audit for the Falkirk area has recently been completed, using money provided by the Scottish Executive to all council areas in Scotland for this specific purpose. Falkirk Council decided to focus part of the audit on those young people under supervision of the Children's Hearing System for offending behaviour, and those on Probation supervision. A second part looked at responses to questionnaires circulated to a number of partner agencies in the area.
The process
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Data was collected from 49 case files relating to the social characteristics and needs of the young people, in addition to details about the type of offences most prevalent amongst those under Social Work Supervision. This information, together with the responses from the questionnaires, provided an indication of the areas where there may be possible gaps in the service.
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Four main areas were identified: education, employment/training, health/mental health and accommodation. Whilst services are already in place for these, the responses to the questionnaires and the review of the case files indicated they might require additional resources.
The results
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In relation to the offence profile, four areas were identified where at least half of the young people had a minimum of one charge/conviction. These involved minor violence, dishonesty, vandalism and breach of the peace. Approximately half of the overall sample had either drugs and/or alcohol linked to their offending behaviour. This is an area of work where Connect is already heavily involved with young people.
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The multi-agency working arrangements were generally felt to be working efficiently in Falkirk, and it was felt that they were being effective in their work with young people who offend. There was a consensus that improved communication and information sharing would go a long way to improving all aspects of the youth justice partnership. Ongoing improvements were felt to be essential to progress, no matter how effective present arrangements are.
The audit was a baseline review of present services and it is hoped that any future review will include emphasis on the effectiveness of services. Connect was recognised as a major partner in youth justice in Falkirk and proposed services for Connect will address some of the issues highlighted in the audit.