The current Youth Justice Strategy ‘Preventing Offending: Getting it right for children and young people’ committed to ‘improve awareness and support of speech, language and communication needs of children involved in offending’ under the priority of improving life chances.
To support the achievement of this commitment, CYCJ hosted a workshop on 30 October 2017 which aimed to:
- Increase awareness of the prevalence of SLCNs in the youth justice population and the impact on young people’s experiences;
- Provide an opportunity for delegates to share their experiences, issues, challenges and good practice in working with young people with SLCNs;
- Share information on current policy activity in this area and tools and resources that can support practice;
- To help identify future needs and actions to support the workforce in improving practice towards the aim of improving outcomes for young people with SLCNs in the youth justice system.
Introduction Kim Hartley Kean, Chair and Head of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Scotland Office
Prevalence of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), impact of SLCN and tools and resources that can or could make a difference Jan Green, Consultant TalkLinks
“What are you talking about?”: Being switched on to communication needs Kenny McKay and Darren Wood, SOLD/People First Scotland
Keep Safe, Have Fun, Stay Out of Trouble: Autism and Youth Justice Corrie McLean and Graham Anderson, Autism Network Scotland
Addressing the Impact: Scottish Government Communication Action Plan and other policy opportunities Kim Hartley Kean, Chair and Head of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Scotland Office
Next steps and closing remarks Gill Robinson, Chair of the Improving Life Chances Implementation Group and Young Persons Advisor, Scottish Prison Service and Kim Hartley Kean, Chair and Head of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Scotland Office