Tameside Youth Justice Service praised for transformative work

Tameside’s youth partnership work has been praised by a top official at the Youth Justice Board for transforming young people’s lives.

Jamie Bennett, the Chief Strategy Officer for the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, is keen to learn from good practice and the experience and expertise of professionals. He visited Tameside Youth Justice Service (YJS) at Ashton Old Library to hear about innovative projects and service delivery.

Tameside YJS was awarded an overall rating of ‘Good’, with two areas rated as ‘Outstanding’, by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation in 2021.

Mr Bennett was shown Tameside YJS’s journey of development and forthcoming projects as it strives to improve and modernise further with a Youth Justice Plan 2024-2027 produced. He was able to meet practitioners and partners to discuss their roles and work, as well as young people to hear about real life testimonies. It was also an opportunity for the youth justice partnership to ask questions about key developments and future initiatives.

Examples were given from the Turnaround Project in Tameside that aims to intervene earlier and improve outcomes for children on the cusp of entering the youth justice system.

One young person, living with his grandmother following his parents’ substance misuse, had committed two crimes and was not in employment, education or training (NEET). The youth engagement worker gained the child’s trust and discovered he was carrying trauma from his childhood that had led him to make the wrong decisions and have no hope for his future. Through meeting him at his local hub and undergoing targeted work, the young person went back to school, gained a college placement and an AQA Qualification in painting and decorating, has supported a domestic violence project and has ambitions for a safer, happier future.

Mr Bennett described it as a wonderful and powerful example of relational practice that the expertise of the team has achieved.

He said: “It adds a lot to meet the people who are delivering the service and understand their experiences. We have no serious concerns about Tameside, and I’m really excited about the innovation and the projects that are happening here.”

The visit included young people presenting an area that is being turned into a Youth Partnership Hub, an important space for them to meet, relax and access services, and includes an online offer. They worked with Top Dog Workshops to create a graffiti wall that includes symbols of what’s important to them and a ‘Welcome to All’ artwork that expresses equality, diversity and being judgement-free.

Mr Bennett described it as striking and great work that displays a positive message.

Tameside Youth Justice Service is part of Tameside Council’s Children’s Service and works with partners including the police and health services. It oversees the Youth Service, Complex Safeguarding and Missing Service, Children in Care, SHiFT and the You Think sexual health partnership.

Councillor Teresa Smith, Tameside Council Executive Member for Children’s Services, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Bennett to Tameside and share the excellent work that Tameside Youth Justice Service is doing. And it was wonderful to witness the passion and love that our practitioners who work under the umbrella of the ‘Youth Partnership’[1] have for supporting  young people into turning their lives around and to meet the young people who are co-developing projects with us.

“The service demonstrated some fantastic initiatives that are making a real difference in young people’s lives and in protecting the public. It was also open and upfront about the challenges and areas where improvements are needed.”