Congratulations to South Tees Area Partnership for attaining the Youth Justice SEND Quality Mark Award
South Tees Area Partnership has used the Youth Justice SEND Quality Award framework assiduously over the last eighteen months to identify areas of strength within service provision, areas where progress was needed, but then work hard with service partners to secure tangible improvements in the coordination and effectiveness of child-centred activity:
- There is now a robust relationship, underpinned by documented protocols, for partnership working with the Local Authority SEND Team, which includes information sharing and exchange. This partnership is two-way, with Council-wide training rolled out on the role of SEND and EHCPs to the benefit of YOS staff. Relationships are strong and effective with the Virtual School, CAMHS and SaLT local services as well, leading to speedy and effective interventions at the point of need.
- Assessment of Needs was rightly judged as outstanding by HMIP, with a range of additional tools and resources in addition to ASSET+ available and deployed as required
- Particularly praiseworthy are the most recent developments, with an area-wide Inclusion Strategy launched in January 2022. There are many elements to this, including a statement that all young people open to the YOS are automatically included in Middlesbrough Council definition of vulnerable. Local triage panels, OOCD panels and ETE support are now improving the preventative, safeguarding-driven provision that will undoubtedly secure better outcomes and life chances for the children with the most complex needs. As Ifran Hanif, the YOS Manager who has led developments, stated: “The lived experience of our children is understood”.
Outstanding progress has been made: it is only a matter of time before Quality Lead standards are attained.
Well done South Tees!
For more information about the Youth Justice SEND Awards please visit: https://www.microlinkpc.com/education/youth-justice/