Training of care home staff in such schemes should also be stepped up to cut reoffending by young people in care, the justice select committee recommended.
The report comes after Bradford Youth Offending Team (YOT) told the inquiry that parents were queuing up “for their children to be given another chance†– and avoid a criminal record.
….The number of people coming into contact with youth offending teams had fallen by 25 per cent between 2010 and 2011 and was down 70 per cent in five years, he added.
However, Mr O’Hara also warned that funding was “always a challengeâ€. In 2011-12, funding for YOTs was slashed by 12 per cent – taking it back to 2006-07 levels.
Today’s report welcomes the Government’s “commitment to restorative justiceâ€, but added: “We believe more should be done to make it integral to the youth justice system.
“We advocate a presumption that the sentencing process will include a restorative element for the vast majority of offenders at all levels of the system.â€
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