Every Child Matters (ECM) and Young Offender Institutions (YOIs)

The Every Child Matters initiative originates from the Green Paper “Every Child Matters” and the Children Act 2004. It seeks to bring coherence to the providers of education and health and welfare providers who are responsible for supporting the development of children and young people. The initiative is divided into the following five outcomes:

  1. Being healthy
  2. Staying safe
  3. Enjoying and achieving
  4. Making a positive contribution
  5. Achieving economic well being

1. Being Healthy, Deals with all aspects of health and health promotion, such as encouraging learners to adopt healthy lifestyles and make healthy choices e.g. choosing not to take illegal drugs or smoke, or engaging in activities that aim to promote good physical, mental, emotional and social health.

2. Staying Safe is primarily about keeping learners safe from harm, both physically and emotionally. Child protection issues play a large part in this outcome so colleges and other providers should consider the potential risks at their premises and at any work place that a learner may access.

3. Enjoying and achieving relates to learner enjoyment and success. Much of the evidence will come from learner views about their programmes of study. It can also be assessed through attendance patterns and the rate of progress that learners make. How well learners are supported, both with learning and personal development, will impact on this outcome.

4. Making a positive contribution is linked to improving self-confidence in learners to enable them to participate in their local communities. It is about learners developing positive behaviour, for example, choosing not to bully or discriminate. It is also linked to learners knowing and understanding their rights and responsibilities as individuals and members of society.

5. Achieving Economic Well-being relates to how well learners are prepared for the working environment and independent living. The development of skills for work and life is essential and includes learners’ ability to manage their own finances. The availability of careers advice and guidance and opportunities for work experience and progression routes into further study and employment also play a significant part in meeting this outcome.

The Criminal Justice System (CJS), both the secure estate and community based agencies, makes a vital contribution to all five of these outcomes for young people. The relationship between the outcomes of Every Child Matters and the seven pathways are outlined below:

Every Child Matters key outcomes Relationship to the seven pathways
Be healthy Health, Substance Misuse
Stay safe Accommodation, Families
Enjoy and achieve Education, Training and Employment
Make a positive contribution ETE, Families
Achieve economic well-being ETE, Finance, Benefits and Debt

Young Offenders Institutions are in scope to the requirements of ECM although the term “child” is hardly relevant. Consequently, a management aid in CD format, entitled “Ensuring Every Learner Matters”, has been produced by a company called TLO to help all post 16 providers, including prisons, analyse how their existing provision meets the requirements of ECM.

Young offender institutions (YOIs) are secure facilities (or 'prisons') that accommodate 15-20 year-olds who have been committed to custody (i.e. sentenced or remanded) by the courts. They are run by the Prison Service although it is the Youth Justice Board that is responsible for all under-18s in the criminal justice system. It commissions and purchases all places in YOIs for under-18s with the overarching aim: "to prevent offending by young people".

The main role of a YOI is to secure the safe custody of young people committed to them by the courts and to help young offenders prepare for their return to the outside community. This aim is to be achieved, in particular, by:

  • The provision of a programme of activities, including education, training and work designed to assist offenders to acquire or develop personal responsibility, self-discipline, physical fitness, interests and skills and to obtain suitable employment after release
  • Fostering links between the offender and the outside community
  • Co-operating with services responsible for the offender's supervision after release