Youth Justice Liaison and Diversion:
South Tees

Operational since February 2009, the YJLD team currently consists of three staff. A Clinical Nurse Specialist in forensic CAMHS is seconded to the YOT as a health advisor to manage the pilot and provide direct CAMHS intervention. He is supported by two Band 5 Registered Mental Health Children's Nurses from Tier 4 CAMHS who work part-time on the project and part-time in a low secure forensic inpatient unit. The team is based in the CAMHS forensic and adolescent outpatient service.

Getting referrals

Currently the main referral pathway for the YJLD team in South Tees is through the police recording system. A form is completed by the arresting officer for every young person charged or dealt with in custody which includes details of the young person, the offence and the charging outcome. This information is filtered through to the YOT computer to the youth police liaison officer. They are then passed to the YJLD team.

The YJLD practitioners prioritise young people for screening depending on the offence committed and whether other services (e.g. health, social services, YOT) are already involved in this person's care pathway. They liaise with other agencies that are already involved to share information.

Referrals also come from an alcohol arrest worker in police custody. This worker screens for substance misuse-specific issues, but refers any cases where mental health needs are identified. South Tees has received YCAP funding to implement triage, so there are plans to introduce a YOT worker through this channel to undertake generic screening in police custody.

YJLD workers act as 'gate keepers' for CAMHS, by screening every young person that gets routed through the YOS to ensure they are appropriate for CAMHS referral.

Screening

The initial screening is done using PARIS, a locally developed electronic risk assessment tool. If particular needs are identified, the team undertake more specialist assessments, generally using CAMHS forensic assessment tools.

YJLD staff indicate that usually there is not that much of a time delay from the point of offence and arrest and the YJLD becoming known to the young person, on average probably a week. If it is a 'non-urgent' case, then the YJLD meet the young person at their home, which they consider to be the most appropriate way to deal with young offenders.

Achievements in South Tees

YJLD staff are able to intervene fairly quickly, with average time being a week.

YJLD practitioners have had lots of success in terms of engagements with the scheme by using an ‘opt out’ method for carrying out home visits.

The scheme at South Tees is successful because of the holistic approach the YJLD team take in addressing young people's identified risks and needs. The team are successful in negotiating with other services and multi-agency working to get people integrated into a care pathway, going beyond referrals and signposting to other agencies and staying involved with the young person, in order to facilitate engagement and sustain the care pathway. The team at South Tees is unique in this pilot as it takes a fundamentally health-driven approach and tends not to follow the youth offending service model of the others.

Contact the team

Richard Deehan
richard.deehan@tewv.nhs.uk
01642 853555

Sarah Watson
sarah.watson@tewv.nhs.uk
01642 853555

Michael Taylor
michael.taylor@tewv.nhs.uk
01642 853555