New government
programmes for the parents of difficult youngsters have cut offences
committed by their children by a third, research for the youth justice
board published yesterday shows.
Nearly 3,000 parents joined the parenting programmes in England and
Wales between spring 1999 and the end of last year. A sixth were referred
to the programme by a court as part of a parenting order, but two thirds
of parents came voluntarily.
In the year prior to the parents being referred, 89% had been convicted
of an offence, compared to 61.5% in the year after the parent left the
programme.
The number of recorded offences committed by the children had fallen by
50 - from 4.4 to 2.1 either side of the programme. "Parents are crucial if
we want to stop youngsters offending. Now there is real evidence
relatively short parenting programmes ... can cut offending by half among
youngsters who were already entrenched in their offending," said the
chairman, Lord Warner.
The research into 34 of the projects was carried out by the Policy
Research Bureau. Eight out of 10 said they wanted help coping with bad
behaviour by their children. According to the research, more than nine out
of 10 parents would recommend it to other parents and only 6% were
negative about it. They said the classes helped them communicate better
with their children.
Publishing the annual report, Lord Warner delivered an upbeat
assessment of progress made since the government's programme to tackle
young offending was put in place. He said youth justice reforms were "a
great success story".
A survey by Mori suggested levels of youth crime showed a rise last
year. "The board is sceptical about whether youth crime is spiralling out
of control ... there are real problems but there is no need for panic," he
said.
He acknowledged there were still problems, including a minority of
young offenders who "strut about with a sense of untouchability in some
areas, primarily London." Detection and prosecution rates were too low.
The government needed better strategies for tackling the troublesome
children below the age of criminal responsibility, 10. Too many children
with serious psychiatric conditions ended up in the criminal justice
system.
"The poor access to education for many of those temporarily or
permanently excluded from school is a major contributor to youth crime,"
he said.
But reoffending on bail had been cut significantly through bail
supervision and support schemes.
Lord Warner said: "We should all be heartened by the evidence in this
annual review that shows youth crime is not spiralling out of control.
"Communities, parents and ... those who have suffered as victims of
crime, should take more comfort in the knowledge that we have a system in
place and a strategy that works to reduce offending."
He said the board wanted to see an "expansion of robust community
penalties as an alternative to the less effective short custodial
penalties."
