Congratulations to Wakefield Youth Justice Service Area Partnership.

Congratulations to the Wakefield Youth Justice Service Area Partnership for attaining Youth Justice SEND Quality Lead Status with a Child First Commendation

Wakefield Area Partnership has been an active participant in the SEND Youth Justice Award framework since 2020, achieving Quality Lead status at the first time of asking. Even then, a number of service features were “Child First” in everything but name: good inter-service relationships, focussed professional development programmes, proactive information exchange, meeting previously unidentified needs, continuity of provision, active involvement of child and parents, and a clear strategic commitment to secure the best possible outcomes for every child in youth justice pathways.

Multi-agency provision has continued to evolve:

• Despite budget pressures, the ETE Team has been retained and developed, including a fulltime Speech and Language Therapist, a Careers Guidance Practitioner and an Education and Intervention Support Worker
• Further professional development opportunities, including Trauma Informed/Awareness, Neurodiversity, Autism Education Trust, and Emotionally Based School Avoidance.
• Embedded Case Formulation
• Enhanced information sharing across all partners, including AP (Alternative Provision), Virtual School, Fair Access Panels, supported by effective Case Escalation processes
• Deep-dive activities are undertaken to inform the Youth Justice Partnership Board of emerging strengths as well as enabling the targeting of resource and provision towards areas of development

This excellent interservice collaboration was acknowledged in the recent SEND Ofsted and CQC Local area inspection of March 2024, which highlighted positive practice of the Youth Justice Service in relation to SEND in Wakefield. The district achieved the highest possible rating in inspection, and services working together under “We are Wakefield” was noted and commended by Inspectors when they spoke with staff across the partnership about their work.

 

Well done Wakefield!