Effective Practice
What is effective practice?
Effective Practice is ‘practice which produces the intended results’ (Chapman and Hough 1998).
The YJB supports this definition and aspires to drive better outcomes for children, families and victims of crime through:
- maximising the number of available and accessible examples of practice deemed effective producing the results for which the youth justice system is accountable, principally preventing and reducing offending by children and young people.
- Ensuring that the YJB’s research programme is informed by the priorities for Effective Practice that we agree in collaboration with the sector
- learning from the body of evidence we collectively generate to give the best possible practice advice to the sector
Information on our role and vision in relation to effective practice
Current YJB priorities for effective practice
Below are the current priorities for effective practice that have been identified in collaboration with the sector, and the action that has been taken in relation to each.
Rank | Practice area | Year identified | YJB action |
1 | Evaluating programmes and using evidence-based methodology | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
2 | Working with young people with conduct Disorders (e.g. Emerging Personality Disorder (EPD), Attachment Disorder) | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
3 | Working with young people with developmental disorders (e.g. Autistic spectrum and Aspergers) and mental health issues | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
4 | Working with young people who have witnessed domestic abuse | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
5 | Speech and language difficulties / learning difficulties | 2011 | Not taken forward this year. The YJB has undertaken considerable work over the last 12 months in partnership with the Communications Trust in relation to this priority area. In Wales, work has also been completed by NACRO Cymru in partnership with the Welsh Government. This is also a key area of concern in relation to the assessment project which is seeking to improve identification of SLCN. We will allow time for this recent work to embed and review the priority area through the 2012 sector prioritisation exercise. |
6 | Woking with young people who sexually offend | 2011 | Not taken forward this year. During focus group activity as part of the sector prioritisation exercise 2011, participants felt that this need was best met by their local leads and by YOTs in collaboration with one another, rather than by a centrally-driven YJB initiative. We will review the priority area through the 2012 sector prioritisation exercise. |
7 | Improving assessment and analysis skills in youth justice | 2011 | The YJB has well-established plans for improving assessment quality in youth justuce, both in terms of the framework and the skills required in completing assessments. Both these areas are being addressed within the YJB's Corporate Plan for 2012/13. |
8 | Serious youth violence | 2011 | Not taken forward this year. The YJB is already involved in exisiting cross-government initiatives in this area. We will seek to co-ordinate our continuing programme of work with partner agencies to deliver on this and other associated priority areas. |
9 | Working with young people who perpetrate or are victims of domestic abuse | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
10 | Working with girls who offend | 2011 | Included in the Corporate Plan for delivery against in 2012/13 |
The effective practice framework
The effective practice (EP) framework comprises the following elements:
- The effective practice cycle
- The effective practice submission and classification system
- Skilled staff able to support the identification and dissemination of effective practice
The effective practice cycle
Effective Practice classification system
One of the main functions of the Effective Practice framework is to provide the youth justice sector with greater information about the programmes and practices in use across not just the youth justice system in England and Wales, but also the broader range of children’s services (and, where applicable, internationally).
In order to inform these judgements we are developing a classification framework that categorises practice according to the amount and quality of evidence, evaluation and research in existence to prove its effectiveness at delivering the intended results for the youth justice system, and allocates it to one of three categories – ‘emerging’, ‘promising’ or ‘research-proven’.
The framework below is currently in draft and we would welcome comments and feedback during its ongoing development. Please email any comments you may have.
