31st July 2026 AssetPlus Has Changed. But Will Practice Change Too?

31/07/2026

The Youth Justice Board's latest update to AssetPlus is a positive step. Replacing young person with child, introducing consideration of discrimination and online experiences, and aligning the framework with the Prevention and Diversion Assessment Tool all reinforce the principles of Child First.

These changes matter. Language shapes how professionals think, assess and make decisions. Referring to a 15-year-old as a child acknowledges their developmental stage and reminds us that children should be understood before they are judged.

However, changing words is far easier than changing culture.

My doctoral research found that many practitioners already embraced Child First values long before they became national policy. The real challenge was not commitment, but delivering those values within systems still dominated by risk management, performance measures and procedural demands.

An updated assessment framework cannot resolve these tensions on its own.

A Child First template can still produce deficit-focused assessments if practitioners are not supported to think differently. Likewise, new questions about discrimination will have limited impact unless staff have the confidence, time and supervision to explore them meaningfully.

Implementation is therefore critical. Training should focus not only on what has changed, but why it has changed, encouraging practitioners to reflect on how language influences professional judgement and decision making.

The real test of these changes will not be whether new sections of AssetPlus are completed. It will be whether children feel better understood, whether assessments better capture their strengths and voices, and whether decisions become more responsive to their individual needs.

The revised AssetPlus framework is a welcome development. But genuine Child First practice requires more than updated terminology. It depends on organisational culture, reflective practitioners and systems that consistently place children, rather than processes, at the centre of decision making.