The South Gloucestershire Youth Justice Service (YJS) received the rating from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) after an inspection of their work with children and victims.
Chief inspector of probation, Martin Jones, praised the service for their commitment and skill.
He said: “The passionate, effective leaders at South Gloucestershire were supported by skilled and committed staff who were tenacious in building and maintaining strong relationships with children, parents and carers.
“The delivery of activities and interventions to achieve positive change was strong, and the support children received in terms of their education was particularly impressive.”
The inspectorate found that the YJS’s collaborative approach with children, families and partner agencies was effective in understanding the children’s strengths, needs and safety.
However, it identified the need for greater consistency in planning practice, especially concerning the safety of children and the community.
Mr Jones also highlighted the service’s ability to identify and respond to the neurodiversity needs of children.
However, he noted that there was a need for improvement in diversity practice concerning children’s ethnicity, culture and identity.
Areas highlighted as needing development include strategic and operational work with victims.
At the time of the inspection, there was no identified strategic lead on the partnership board to promote and drive improvements in victim work.
More oversight from the board was required to ensure that the YJS was sufficiently resourced to deliver personalised services to victims.
Inspectors also noted that children’s voices were acknowledged and used to guide service delivery within the YJS and the wider partnership.
Mr Jones said: “Overall, the team at South Gloucestershire should be proud of the work they are doing.
“With some renewed focus from the partnership board to improve work with victims, I have no doubt this service can excel.”
The inspectorate’s report contains nine recommendations.
Three are directed towards the South Gloucestershire Youth Justice Partnership Board, including the need to drive improvement work with victims and hold relevant partners to account.
Five recommendations are aimed at South Gloucestershire YJS, including improving the quality of planning practice to consistently identify how to keep the child and community safe.
Two recommendations are for Avon and Somerset Police.