The Youth Justice Boards National Qualifications Framework

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The Youth Justice Boards National Qualifications
Framework

• Skills for Justice, HE Forum
• February 2008

Ruth Searle Senior Strategy Adviser
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The Youth Justice Board (YJB)

• The YJB is a non-departmental public body that
  oversees the youth justice system in England and
  Wales.
• Our mission is
• to prevent offending and re-offending by children
  and young people under the age of 18 and
• ensure that custody for them is safe, secure and
  addresses the causes of their offending
  behaviour.
• We base all our work on evidence, where this
  exists.

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Why the NQF?

• Individuals doing their own thing
• No consistency
• Varied performance

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NQF Development

• Consortia of 4 HEIs
• Programmes of learning based on evidence of what
  works i.e. effective practice
• The Professional Certificate in Effective
  Practice (PCEP) first course to be developed and
  lies at the heart of the NQF level 2
• PCEP has become the commonly understood standard
  of how we expect people to operate

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The YJBs National Qualifications Framework
Foundation Degree in Youth Justice
Professional Certificate in Effective Practice
(Youth Justice)
Professional Certificate in Effective Practice
(Youth Justice)
National Occupational Standards for Youth Justice
Effective Practice INSET Programme
Gateway
Exploring the Youth Justice System an
introduction
JASP
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What the NQF provides

• Different levels of access
• Development of skills
• Progression routes
• In addition training for managers Managing
  People

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Strategy 03-06

• Home Office target
• Sponsorship
• Regional HR Learning Advisers

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Strategy 06-08

• The requirement to become easily accessible
• Streamlining of provision to one provider The
  Open University
• Supported Open Learning
• Change of job title from HR Learning Adviser to
  Workforce Development Adviser

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Strategic Framework 08-11

• Interactive Learning Space
• Youth Rehabilitation Order
• INSET becomes CPD
• Links to other NQF and/or OU courses
• Access for individual and group training
• Foundation Degree level 3

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What worked well

• Monthly meetings with key people
• FAQ sheets
• Evaluation
• Different points of access to the NQF that
  accommodate the varied levels of prior
  study/qualifications and provide opportunities
  for those with no formal qualifications.

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What we would do differently

• Design the NQF first then PCEP within it.
• Learn more about the composition of the workforce
  to more accurately project demand
• Demand a tighter, more formal planning structure
  with the OU to keep up the pace

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Childrens Workforce Development Council

• Aims to improve the lives of children and young
  people by ensuring people who work with them have
  the best possible training, qualifications,
  support and advice.
• Youth Justice staff are part of the childrens
  workforce and come under the umbrella of the
  Childrens Workforce Development Council (CWDC)
• Common core
• Specialist areas of practice
• Transferability

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Working with CWDC in the Justice sector

• NQF qualifications mapped to the common core
  transferability
• Development of the IQF
• Equivalence
• Awareness of Justice partners Police, Secure
  establishments, Probation, Courts
• Secure and Community workforce.