Council speech and language therapy service works to minimise reoffending
A pioneering Council service that uses speech and language therapy to help young people navigate the justice system has been recognised with a national quality mark.
Based within the Council’s youth justice team, the service uses speech and language therapists to equip young people with the language skills necessary to access training opportunities or comply with conditions set out by the courts. This helps minimise the chance that young people will reoffend.
The work follows research that showed that 60% of the young people supported by Hackney’s youth justice team experience difficulties in communicating, and over half do not understand vocabulary commonly used in the justice system, such as ‘breach’ or ‘comply’.
Now, the service has been recognised for its work after being awarded with a quality mark by Achievement for All and the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers.
We’re committed to using evidence-led approaches to support people away from crime and prevent re-offending. The Youth Justice team’s speech and language therapy work is incredibly valuable because it gives young people better communication skills, helps them access the opportunities that can help turn their life around and increases the chance that they’ll find a way out of crime.
