To ask the Minister of Justice to outline how her Department uses trauma-informed practice.

Mrs Long

As lead Minister for the Executive programme on paramilitarism and organised crime, which has invested over £1·5 million to support the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland in embedding trauma-informed practice across sectors, I fully support the adoption of trauma-informed approaches in my Department and across all of our public services. The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland works with Justice partners to ensure that our services recognise the impact of trauma and are delivered in ways that support better outcomes for individuals and communities. The establishment of a Justice-wide trauma-informed practice group in 2021, supported by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, has provided a platform to share information, advice and best practice, as well as driving a consistent approach to trauma-informed practice across all Justice organisations. The group also considers the impact on and support for staff working in the Justice system, given that their roles mean that they are frequently exposed to vicarious trauma. As a result, organisations have increased awareness and understanding of the impact and signs of trauma and bring that knowledge to their daily interactions, policies and procedures to actively reduce re-traumatisation and explore pathways to recovery. Each justice organisation is at a different stage in its trauma-informed journey. Some, such as the Probation Board and the Youth Justice Agency, are more advanced and have participated in the internationally recognised Oregon tool assessment to evaluate their alignment with trauma-informed care and to monitor their progress. Others may be only at the start of that work, but there is a common vision of a trauma-informed justice system based on the lived experience of those who engage with it.

Mrs Long

A Justice-wide group has been running since June 2021 to support a more strategic approach to trauma-informed practice across the justice system. Included on that group is representation from the Probation Board, the Youth Justice Agency, the police, the Prison Service, the core Department, the Safeguarding Board and Victim Support NI. Each of those organisations is committed to implementing a trauma-informed approach to their policies and services. The Safeguarding Board is driving trauma-informed practice in all sectors across Northern Ireland, and its representation on the group ensures that Justice organisations are kept abreast of the latest initiatives and training opportunities as well as of what support is available. In addition to the cross-pollination of ideas and best practice that happens among group members at meetings, outside of this group members share information on seminars, training and research that might be helpful to others. Key to that is the experience in the Justice sphere, where the Youth Justice Agency can firmly say that it, alongside the Probation Board, has led the way on trauma-informed practice and putting victims at the heart of the work that they do.

Ms Sheerin

Does the Minister agree that implementing trauma-informed practices is important in reducing reoffending and has to be embedded at an early point and not applied inconsistently? Does that mean that there should be investment in earlier trauma-informed approaches?

Mrs Long

Without doubt, it is important that we invest earlier. We know from the research conducted by the tackling paramilitarism and organised crime programme that numbers of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are higher in Northern Ireland than in other regions and that they have significant consequences for the life outcomes of young people. Young people with high ACE scores are more likely to engage negatively with the justice system, to have poor mental health, to suffer from addictions and to not be economically active or have secure accommodation. We have to consider all those things when responding to those adverse childhood experiences, because the bit of that research that gets missed is that an adverse childhood experience does not, in itself, set a child on that path. If they have positive experiences that counterbalance and offset that and if they get the right support at the right time, many of those children will go on to lead productive and constructive lives. It is therefore in all our interests to find ways to invest much earlier in our young people who have suffered trauma.

Mr Nesbitt

Is there an assessment of the extent of vicarious trauma in the Department and its arm's-length bodies?

Mrs Long

That is an interesting question, and I thank the former Health Minister for asking it, because I know that vicarious trauma has also affected his former Department. I do not think that a baseline assessment of staff has been conducted, but it is something that we are aware of and that we may well come to in time. At the moment, we are providing people with the opportunity for additional and, perhaps, more targeted counselling. Some of the stories that we hear when we meet victims are incredibly difficult to listen to. The Member will know that, because he has been at some of those meetings alongside me. We do not simply clock out at the end of the day and forget what we have heard; we carry it with us. One way in which I deal with what I hear is to try to find something that I can do to make it better for people coming through the system. We have to find ways of managing that, such as offering our staff, particularly those in the operational sphere but also those who work in policy development and engage with experts in lived experience, the support to cope with what they may hear.

Mr Deputy Speaker (Dr Aiken)

Mr McGrath. Can you do it in 30 seconds?