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Introduction
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AssetPlus is a framework developed by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) to provide a holistic end-to-end assessment and intervention plan for children aged 10–18 who have committed offences or are considered at risk of doing so. It allows the youth justice service to maintain a single record which follows the child throughout their time in the youth justice system.
If there are concerns that a child with an AssetPlus record has been sexually abused or is at risk of sexual abuse, or there are concerns that the child has displayed harmful sexual behaviour, a lot of the information in their AssetPlus record will be relevant to the resulting multi-agency assessment.
It is important to remember that many children who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour will themselves have experienced harm, and so any information from the AssetPlus assessment must be interpreted in the context of the child’s safeguarding needs, wellbeing and, in some cases, risks.
If the youth justice service gathers information from other practitioners around the child before carrying out the assessment, this can help to populate the child’s AssetPlus record and enhance the assessment. And once the AssetPlus assessment is complete, sharing information from it can help those practitioners to support and safeguard the child:
- Where the child is thought to have been sexually abused, the AssetPlus assessment can help practitioners understand the child’s vulnerability, the contexts in which the abuse occurred, the impact of trauma and how this might relate to their offending behaviour, and the support and safeguarding measures needed to prevent further harm. Shared and used proportionately, it supports trauma‑informed, multi‑agency safeguarding by bringing together information about risk, impact, strengths and protective factors rather than seeing these in isolation.
- Where the child has displayed harmful sexual behaviour, the AssetPlus assessment can support a holistic, safeguarding‑focused understanding of both the risks the child may pose to others and the needs and vulnerabilities underlying that behaviour. It helps practitioners move beyond a narrow focus on the behaviour itself to understand the wider context in which it has occurred. Shared and used appropriately, it can help identify patterns and triggers linked to the harmful sexual behaviour, the child’s developmental and trauma history, and any unmet needs or environmental factors that may be contributing to risk. It also supports the identification of protective factors, strengths and supportive relationships that can help reduce harm and promote positive change.
The AssetPlus framework is presented in a number of sections; the youth justice service in your area is responsible for completing each section, drawing on information from the multi-agency network, the child, and the child’s parent(s)/carer(s).
It begins with the core record, summarising information from the youth justice service’s wider case management system including:
- the child’s personal information
- personal information about the child’s parent(s)/carer(s)
- the child’s history of offending or antisocial behaviour
- the child’s risk of harm to others (including serious risk of harm) and risk of being harmed themselves
- a record of the child’s contact with other services
- summary of key actions from the youth justice service’s intervention plan.
Next, the information gathering section collates information about the child’s wider family, their current personal circumstances, their current offending or antisocial behaviour, their strengths and protective factors, and their own views about their situation.
AssetPlus then guides the youth justice service practitioner to draw explanations and conclusions from the information provided in the earlier sections, in order to make professional judgements about:
- the child’s offending behaviour patterns and trends (based on their individual context)
- their potential future behaviour, its likelihood and its impact
- their likelihood of reoffending and rating the risk of serious harm
- the likelihood and impact of adverse outcomes in relation to the child’s safety and wellbeing.
The next stage, pathways and planning, supports the practitioner to identify outcomes and plans that link to risks and positive factors identified in the previous section, and frames the child’s intervention plan around what can or must be done to deliver a number of key outcomes:
- repairing the harm (restorative justice)
- not reoffending
- not hurting others
- goals and life opportunities
- safety and wellbeing.
This section also outlines targets and actions that will seek to deliver the intended outcomes, and gives consideration to engagement, risk, safety management and changing circumstances.
The last section provides modules which identify specific tasks/processes to be carried out during the child’s involvement with the youth justice system:
- The Referral and Restorative Justice modules support intervention planning in terms of making a referral or assessing the suitability of restorative justice work.
- The Pre-Sentence and Referral Order Report modules are templates of these reports that can be populated with assessment information.
- The Bail and Remand module identifies how to address the objections to bail and determine the most appropriate bail package.
- The Custody and Leaving Custody modules provide information about admission and arrangements for release from custody.
- The Youth to Adult and YOT to YOT modules facilitate the transfer of the AssetPlus record between youth justice/adult services and between different youth offending teams (i.e. youth justice services) in different areas.
Practitioners in the youth justice service should not routinely share the full AssetPlus record. Instead, relevant information should be shared in a targeted way, linked clearly to the purpose and the role of the practitioner receiving it.
Depending on the circumstances, relevant information from AssetPlus may include:
- identified risks and vulnerabilities, including concerns about the child’s harmful sexual behaviour; concerns about their exposure to sexual abuse, exploitation or coercion; and known triggers, patterns or situations associated with increased risk
- protective factors and strengths, such as supportive relationships, engagement with education or services, or factors that reduce risk
- relevant history or context, including previous safeguarding concerns, significant life events or trauma, and patterns of behaviour over time
- the child’s views and experiences, and (where appropriate) the views and experiences of their parent(s) or carer(s), where this helps others understand risk, impact or support needs
- current interventions, plans and safety actions, including supervision arrangements, agreed restrictions, therapeutic input, and goals set out in pathways and planning
- professional analysis, including conclusions about risk of serious harm, likelihood of reoffending, or concerns about the child’s safety or wellbeing.
Information from AssetPlus may need to be shared with different partners depending on their role in safeguarding the child. These partners may include:
- children’s social care, to inform multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) decisions, strategy discussions, statutory assessments, or safety planning
- the police, where information is relevant to protecting a child, managing risk, or informing investigative or disruption activity
- education practitioners (usually via the Designated Safeguarding Lead), where information is necessary to support safety planning, supervision arrangements or pastoral support
- health practitioners, where information is relevant to safeguarding, assessment, treatment planning or managing risk in healthcare settings
- the Probation Service or MAPPA partners, particularly if the child is about to transition from the youth justice service to the Probation Service, or where adult risks intersect with a child’s safety
- voluntary- or community-sector organisations, where they are directly involved in delivering elements of a safeguarding or support plan and need specific information to do so safely.