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Youth offending teams (YOTs) have made good progress in identifying and addressing alcohol misuse in children and young people but further improvements must be made, said independent inspectors as they published a joint report on youth alcohol misuse and offending.

HM Inspectorate of Probation, the Care Quality Commission and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Estyn carried out this inspection to determine whether youth offending and health services are sufficiently engaged and involved in efforts to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse by children and young people who offend.

The report re-emphasises the known link between alcohol misuse and health problems, underachievement in school and offending behaviour. It reports that YOTs are sufficiently aware of this link and are offering significant and effective health resources where alcohol misuse is seen to relate directly to offending.

But there were too many inconsistencies found in the quality of assessments across England and Wales, suggesting children and young people who misuse alcohol are going without the appropriate help at times.

The report calls for all children and young people who come into contact with YOTs to receive a nationally validated health assessment by a health professional or case worker with health training to ensure that the appropriate interventions are offered.

Among other recommendations, inspectors called for greater engagement with parents and for substance misuse issues, including alcohol, to be reported and adequately considered at YOT board management level.

Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• most youth offending teams have made good progress towards recognising, identifying and meeting alcohol-related needs in children and young people over recent years;
• the range of interventions being offered were generally good and included the provision of educational support and information used in prevention; and
• feedback from parents and young people was positive about relationships with YOT staff and health workers.

Inspectors were concerned, however, that:  

• arrangements for assessments varied greatly and in some areas, there was an acceptance by case managers as to what they saw as a normal level of alcohol consumption which then impacted on their assessment;
• assessments were seen to be of a good quality in only half of the cases examined;
• there was little evidence of the needs of victims being well managed; and
• the recording of outcomes from alcohol interventions was inconsistent.

Care Quality Commission chief executive, Cynthia Bower, said on behalf of all inspectorates:

“It is critical that all alcohol-related care and support needs for children and young people are identified through consistently-good systems of assessment, which are likely to lead to the appropriate interventions and referrals where needed. Children and young people, as well as their parents and carers, must also be fully engaged in assessments and interventions, and the effectiveness of interventions must be better measured.

”The misuse of alcohol has wide ranging effects on long term health and on communities. It requires greater prominence as a crucial issue that local services and modern society must tackle.’

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For further information, please contact CQC press office on 020 7448 9210 or HMI Probation press office on 020 7035 2123 or Healthcare Inspectorate Wales press office on 02920 928872 or tony.moulding@wales.gsi.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the report is available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-probation/index.htm or on our website here.

2. The Government’s 2007 National Alcohol Strategy highlighted the fact that deaths caused by alcohol consumption had doubled in the past two decades with more people becoming ill and dying younger. The report also indicated that, although overall consumption of alcohol had reduced for 11-15 year olds, children who did consume alcohol were drinking more, and more often.

3. HM Inspectorate of Probation is an independent inspectorate, funded by the Ministry of Justice, and reporting directly to the Secretary of State on the effectiveness of work with individual offenders, children and young people aimed at reducing reoffending and protecting the public.

4. The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. The CQC regulates care provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies and voluntary organisations. Its aim is to make sure better care is provided for everyone - in hospitals, care homes and people's own homes. The CQC also seeks to protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.

5. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) is the independent inspectorate and regulator of all healthcare in Wales. HIW’s primary focus is on: making a significant contribution to improving the safety and quality of healthcare services in Wales, improving citizens’ experience of healthcare in Wales whether as a patient, service user, carer, relative or employee, strengthening the voice of patients and the public in the way health services are reviewed and ensuring that timely, useful, accessible and relevant information about the safety and quality of healthcare in Wales is made available to all.

6. Estyn is the office of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales. It is independent of, but funded by, the National Assembly for Wales.