Two staff from County Durham Youth Offending Service have received a prestigious national award for their innovative work.
Practice improvement officer Sarah Caden and speech and language therapist Susan Stewart have been given a Butler Trust Award 2015/16 – an “Oscar” of the criminal justice world – for their “outstanding dedication, skill and creativity” in transforming the service’s approach to young people’s communication needs.
And at St James’s Palace, the pair were presented with their accolade by the Trust’s patron, HRH The Princess Royal.
Sarah Caden said: “Receiving this award is brilliant as it gives us a platform to highlight the significant needs of young people who offend.
“Sixty to 90% of them have speech, language and communication needs and we hope to transform youth justice to put meaningful conversations at the heart of everything we do.
“This award is for all the young people we work with.”
Sarah and Susan – who is seconded to CDYOS from North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust – won one of just 10 Butler Trust awards handed out to staff working in prisons, probation and youth justice services across the UK this year, following over 300 nominations.
Lord McNally, chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, attended the award ceremony and praised the work of the Durham duo.
Lord McNally said: “It was a real pleasure to attend the Butler Trust award ceremony and to see so many inspiring examples of dedication and innovative work being formally recognised.
“Congratulations in particular to Sarah Caden and Susan Stewart at County Durham Youth Offending Service on their award and the tremendous work they have done in improving the service’s approach to young people’s speech, language and communication needs.”