Youth Crime
Evaluation of ISSP
An evaluation of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) highlights some key achievements in the way that persistent and serious young offenders are being dealt with since the innovative new scheme was introduced in 2001, and provides valuable lessons for the future development of the programme.
Title: Evaluation of ISSP
Author: Youth Justice Board
Date published: September 2004
Number of pages: 43
The scheme targets the worst young offenders and those on bail, protecting the public by ensuring that young offenders know they are being closely monitored through surveillance techniques such as electronic tagging. The average number of offences committed by those referred to the programme was 9 in the 12 months before the programme.
Key objectives of the project
1. To reduce the rate of reoffending in the target group of offenders by 5%, and to reduce the seriousness of reoffending
2. To tackle underlying problems of the young people concerned, in an effective manner, and with a particular emphasis on educational needs
3. To demonstrate that supervision and surveillance are being undertaken consistently and rigorously, and in ways that will reassure the community and sentencers of their credibility and likely success.
Young people
The report found that many of the young people referred to the ISSP had "clearly been deprived and damaged by their early life experiences". This presented ISSP teams with a big challenge to address the young persons needs and their behaviour.
93% of the ISSP cases related to young males.
The average age of the young people at the start of their ISSP was 16.4 years.
Approximately 4 in 5 of the young people were white.
Variations in ethnic background were much more pronounced in certain areas of the country, notably London.
The most common offences that led to referrals were burglary or robbery.
Problems young offenders had faced included:
Nearly half the young people were recorded as living in a deprived household.
38% absconded or regularly stayed away from home
36% were recorded as living with known offenders
15% had no fixed home.
9% were known to have attempted suicide and 15% been deliberately self-harming.
3 in 10 had experienced abuse.
Just 1 in 5 young people had been attending mainstream school in the 6 months prior to ISSP, while over a quarter had no source of educational provision.
The average reading age for young people on ISSP was 5 and a half years behind the actual mean age (16).
Drug use was prevalent, with 14% of the sample known to use heroin and 11% known to use crack cocaine.
The ISSP Programme
The programme has adhered to principles of risk and dosage (the higher the risk, the greater the intensity of intervention) and incorporated a range of interventions, as well as paying particular attention to the need for educative and supportive components.
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has specified that, for those on six-month programmes, the first 3 months should entail a structured programme of at least 5 hours a day during the week, and access to support in the evening and at weekends. After 3 months, there must be supervision for at least one hour each weekday, with evening and weekend support available.
For those young people who receive ISSP as part of a Community Rehabilitation Order, Supervision Order or DTO, the Youth Justice Board has specified that all programmes contain the following 5 core modules.
Education and training
Restorative justice
Changing offending behaviour
Interpersonal skills
Family support
Additional modules are also provided depending on the needs of the offender.
Surveillance
The different forms of community surveillance that can be used on the offender are:
Tracking - ISSP staff check on the whereabouts of offenders
Electronic Tagging - a tag is used to reinforce a curfew
Voice Verification - The voiceprints of the young people are checked over the telephone at times specified in a contract schedule in order to confirm their whereabouts.
Intelligence led policing - police monitor the movements of the young people at key times, and exchange information with the ISSP staff.
Measures taken
ISSP is multi-modal, including a variety of components such as assessment, close monitoring, education and training, tracking (regular contact), tagging and restorative justice.
97% were engaged in education or training.
7 in 10 took part in restorative justice to pay back the harm they had done to the community.
An electronic tag was used to enforce a curfew in 70% of cases.
The graph below shows the percentage of young offenders that participated in each of the interventions.
A total of 3,990 ISSP cases were recorded. The breakdown by type of ISSP is shown below.
This shows the Youth Justice Board encouraged the use of ISSP as part of a Supervision Order and, as can be seen, over half were attached to such an order.
Success of ISSP
The report found that Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) had the following positive effects:
It helped to improve attitudes to offending, to influence positive changes in self-perception, and to stimulate young offenders to consider the effects of crime on victims.
It brought a reduction in the frequency and seriousness of offending for young people on the programme.
The frequency of offending fell by 43% in the 12 months before and after the start of ISSP.
The seriousness of offending dropped by 16%.
There was almost 50% completion rate for ISSPs. This is seen as positive taking into account the high-risk profiles of the young offenders.
Magistrates have found that ISSPs provide offenders with a structured alternative to custody and real support to divert them away from a life of crime
Young offenders with multiple problems are being supervised in the community in a way that inspires the confidence of sentencers, the police and – most importantly - the public.
A significant proportion of the young offenders indicated that they welcomed the high and consistent levels of contact with ISSP staff.
Limitations of ISSP
Not surprisingly, bearing in mind the profiles of the young people on ISSP, 85% were reconvicted at some point within 12 months of the start of the programme. This figure drops to 76% for those that successfully completed the programme.
Judging from direct observations and data analysis, it was clear that the nature, quantity and quality of the supervision delivered varied greatly. Large differences were observed in the average hours provided for each element, suggesting that the content of ISSP varied in accordance with needs, preferences and available resources.
ISSP brought about statistically significant levels of positive change across all risk factors except substance use, and emotional and mental health.
Last update: 14 September 2004