Hackney Council has approved the Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Plan for 2025-2028, outlining a vision for children involved with the Youth Justice System (YJS). The plan, a requirement by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) for continued grant funding, emphasizes safeguarding, prevention, early intervention, and addressing local needs. The Youth Justice Strategic Plan Report 2025-28 notes that the Strategic Safer Young Hackney Board is chaired by the Group Director for Children and Education. All senior partners attending the strategic board are able to input and make decisions relating to local resources.
The plan commits to a child first
and strength-based approach, aligned with the Hackney STAR-R model (Systemic, Trauma Informed, Anti Racist and Restorative). It was developed with input from the Safer Young Hackney Partnership Board and feedback from young people and parents. To ensure feedback from young people and parents directly influences service design and delivery, the plan aims to create a Youth Justice Volunteers programme inclusive of young people with lived experience of the YJS and enhance the Participation Lead role. This will see the expansion of practice to include young people's voices in the selection of Community Panel members, regular engagement with the partnership board, the involvement of young people in practitioner interviews, and strengthening of participation opportunities. Workshops and support will also be provided for parents.
Key priorities outlined in the plan include:
- Improving data collection and analysis related to health, and establishing an Integrated Health Team. The YJS Integrated Health Team includes the Youth Justice Service Lead Nurse, Speech and Language Therapy Service, Clinical Supervision Team, Specialist CAMHS, Substance Misuse Service, and Sexual Health Nursing Service.
- Prioritising the recruitment of an additional Virtual School Worker to support re-engagement and greater understanding of children's educational journeys.
- Embedding the Victim Code, expanding reparation and restorative justice offers, and gathering victim feedback.
- Continuing the Turnaround project and maintaining the Engage project.
- Creating a Youth Justice Volunteers programme and enhancing the Participation Lead role.
- Committing to anti-racist practice and addressing disproportionality in custodial remands and sentences.
- Prioritising staff Continuous Professional Development, and wellbeing.
The plan also includes an anti-racism position statement, acknowledging systemic racism and committing to anti-racist practice. The Youth Justice Strategic Plan Report 2025-28 notes that children who identify as Black or Global Majority are more likely to have reported High or Very High adverse Safety & Wellbeing factors in their life. The plan focuses on embedding anti-racist practice, and in particular addressing disproportionality in custodial remands and sentences. It will improve understanding of intersectionality of racism and neurodiversity: utilizing projects like the London Accommodation Pathfinder, and Outcome 22/ deferred prosecution to improve outcomes. The tools, systems and processes for reports and audits will be reviewed through an anti racist lens.
The council's report notes that the Safer Young Hackney Partnership Board adopted an approach of developing a 3 year Strategic Partnership Plan that is updated annually.
The plan also highlights the importance of understanding and responding to local needs. The council aims to ensure that service design is influenced by the experiences of children, young people, families, caregivers, and frontline practitioners.
According to the Youth Justice Strategic Plan Report 2025-28, there was a 25% increase in total numbers of children becoming First Time Entrants (FTEs) to the youth justice system in 2024/25 from 2023-24. The report suggests that children were being charged with more serious offences, precluding them from the option of a pre-court diversion. The plan addresses this through the continuation of the Turnaround project, maintaining the Engage project, ongoing development of the Outcome 22/Deferred Prosecution project, and recruitment of an education worker for Prevention & Diversion. The report also notes that the median age of a child becoming a FTE in Hackney remains 16 years of age.
The report states that the Risk of Serious Harm (RoSH) is an important indicator of the likelihood of a life-threatening and/or traumatic event affecting a child's life. The assessment tool AssetPlus enables Youth Justice Practitioners to assess the strengths, needs, safety and wellbeing factors (vulnerabilities) and risks posed to or by a child.
