SPECIALIST professionals are failing to correctly assess the harm young offenders can do in North Yorkshire, probation inspectors have concluded.
But generally the county's youth justice service (YJS) gets the thumbs up following its latest inspection.
The national chief inspector of probation Justin Russell said: “There is much to commend North Yorkshire YJS – this is a well-led and well-managed service.
“Staff are committed to the children that they work with and have high aspirations for them. We found staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to develop supportive relationships with children and their families.”
The report gives the service a "requires improvement" rating for the way its staff assesses the risk child offenders pose to their victims' and other people's safety.
It also says the service needs to improve the way it plans and carries out work with children brought before the courts.
It praises its close work with local authority children's services.
The inspection was carried out partly before and partly during the national lockdown.
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