Case summary
Inspector’s comments
Important learning
Take-away learning

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This case example illustrates a good understanding of planning to keep the child safe. We expect the plan to:

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Case summary 

Tomasz is a 17-year-old male convicted of burglary. He received an 18-month youth rehabilitation order with 180 days of intensive supervision and support (ISS), a six-month curfew and a criminal behaviour order.

Tomasz had been known to statutory services for a number of years, including children’s social care, the Troubled Families team, mental health services and the police. He had 18 previous sanctions for offences relating to anti-social behaviour, breaches and thefts. He first experienced custody in 2019, when he received a significant sentence that included him being recalled to prison for not complying with his licence conditions. His life had been complex. He did not engage well with school and had limited support from his parents. From an early age he had been unsupervised both at home and in the community, and regularly went missing from home and school. There were concerns that he was vulnerable to the influence of older, more criminally sophisticated, peers and was being exploited by them. Agencies felt that Tomasz had emotional and mental health issues, but these remained undiagnosed due to his family’s lack of engagement with statutory services.

From the start, the case manager worked alongside the other agencies who knew Tomasz and his family history to plan together how they could engage and support him. The case manager drew on the available information to develop a good understanding of Tomasz’s individual needs and recognised that his history of poor compliance and breach of orders was linked to his childhood experiences. He put a plan in place quickly, which focused on engaging Tomasz by using regular appointments, and he explained to him how the different agencies would be working together and sharing information. When the case manager liaised with other professionals, including the electronic monitoring agency, he kept Tomasz updated with the information he was receiving from them. This resulted in Tomasz feeling included in his plan and understanding the roles of the different people who were supporting and monitoring him. As he was aware that agencies were working together and sharing information, he was motivated to engage and comply with all services.

Getting the ISSP plan right in this order was key to its success. An ISSP is the most rigorous non-custodial intervention available for children. It combines high levels of community-based supervision with a focus on tackling the factors that contribute to the child’s offending. Tomasz’s plan set out his hours of curfew, which ran from 7pm to 7am daily; electronic monitoring to support him in complying with the curfew; and a requirement to attend the YOT for offence-focused programmes, starting with 20 hours’ attendance for the first three to six months of the order. The appropriate combination of interventions was discussed at a multi-disciplinary meeting. A risk assessment that measured individual safety and wellbeing was carried out for Tomasz and the other children attending interventions to make sure they could mix safely.

As his supervision plan was being developed, Tomasz felt his views were being taken into consideration and that he was being listened to by all workers. His plan included elements that interested him, for example mending bicycles and attending the gym, as well as attending appointments with his CAMHS worker. He complied with all appointments and fully engaged with the service.

The case manager recognised that Tomasz required high intensity management. The plan had a clear structure. It initially focused on ensuring that Tomasz kept appointments so that the case manager could help him to understand the requirements of the plan and the repercussions if he did not comply. He engaged Tomasz by explaining how the plan would be tapered over time and if he progressed well and complied it would become less restrictive.

The criminal behaviour order plan was incorporated into the supervision plan and focused on Tomasz’s compliance with the community restrictions to minimise his anti-social behaviour.

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Inspector’s comments

This case is a good example of planning to keep a child safe. The planning involved Tomasz from the start and identified activities, services and interventions that would engage him and protect others. It was closely aligned with other agencies’ plans, and there was good evidence that the YOT case manager was taking a lead role in coordinating the planning and prioritising the actions, ensuring all agencies were focused on his safety and wellbeing. This included working alongside children’s social care, health and mental health services, the police, the Troubled Families team and voluntary organisations.

The inspector was impressed by the leadership displayed by the case manager, who was very clear during the discussion on which agency should lead on each activity and why. He liaised and communicated between workers and agencies regarding progress and ensured there was a focus on maintaining Tomasz’s engagement. The case manager showed that planning in this case was cohesive with the work of the other agencies involved and that there were contingency plans in place to manage and reduce the risks to Tomasz.

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Important learning

• This case was impressive in managing a complex community order within a context of poor compliance, emotional and mental health concerns, and persistent offending patterns.
• The case manager coordinated a high-risk, complex order to promote the child’s safety and wellbeing, and to minimise his risk of harm from other people while considering the risk he posed to others. He agreed with all relevant agencies that, by prioritising Tomasz’s engagement and promoting his safety and wellbeing, they would increase his prospects for desistance from further offending.

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Take-aways – applying the learning

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This case summary is intended for training/learning purposes and includes a fictional name.