Youth Justice Services In Dudley and Walsall "Require Improvement"
27 June 2019, 06:20 | Updated: 27 June 2019, 06:47
Work to rehabilitate child criminals in the West Midlands is suffering under budget cuts and could be putting the public at risk, according to inspectors.
HM Inspectorate of Probation rated Walsall Youth Justice Service as requiring improvement, and made a series of recommendations after saying a second year of funding cuts was "affecting the quality of work with troubled children".
The service which supervises children aged 10 to 18, who have a conviction or are being dealt with outside the courts for minor offences, has the lowest budget of any such service in the region, the body said.
Other facilities like youth centres, which may help tackle anti-social behaviour and crime have dwindled, according to the report.
"A high proportion aren't in any form of education or training"
— Heart West Midlands News (@HeartWMidsNews) June 27, 2019
HM Inspectorate of Probation has rated Youth Justice Services in #Walsall & #Dudley as "requires improvement" #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/cbwEOaXQeE
Inspectors decided a second facility in the region also required improvement when it raised concerns about Dudley Youth Offending Service (YOS) and made more recommendations.
Lack of proper education provision for young offenders "is a serious issue that is not getting the attention it deserves and progress has been too slow", the inspectors said.
