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This article draws on the work undertaken by the authors on behalf of an inter-agency Pathway project across Greater Manchester known as AIM (Assessment, Intervention and Management). The project was funded by the National Youth Justice Board to develop policies, and practices and services for young people who sexually abuse others. We will describe in particular the development of a multi-disciplinary assessment framework. The model produced is intended for use as part of an initial assessment after either a child protection investigation under Section 47 of the 1989 Children Act and/or a criminal investigation has established that a young person (10-18 years) has committed a sexual assault. The framework has been implemented throughout the Greater Manchester area since May 2001. Its development included extensive consultation with local practitioners, both to increase their commitment to the eventual model and to demonstrate the philosophy of partnership and engagement that we considered being central to an effective assessment process with young people and their families. Context: Establishing an Inter-agency Project in Greater ManchesterIn 1992 the National Children's Homes' (NCH) report Children and Young People Who Sexually Abuse Other Children represented a turning point in the identi cation of the scope and needs of young people who sexually abuse others. The report con rmed that approximately a third of all child sexual assault was carried out by young people and children under 18 years of age. However, agency responses were found to be uncoordinated, with services sporadic and inadequate so that decision making in these cases became a virtual lottery. Practitioners reported that there was little or no support, policy or training. The NCH report was followed by central government guidance (DoH, 1991) in which the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to these cases was recognised. At about the same time a number of small-scale projects were established but the progress of a systematic response remained piecemeal and patchy. This was re ected in one of the principle ndings of the Thematic Inspection of the Work of the Probation Service with Sex Offenders (HMIP, 1998) which stated that there was an absence of any strategic framework for the management of young sex offenders.

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As two of the constructors (B.P. and J.H.) and the evaluators (A.B. and H.G.) of the original Adolescent Intervention Model (AIM) model (Print and others, 2001), we are pleased to have this opportunity given to us by the editors of Children & Society to comment upon Steve Myers' critique of the AIM assessment model in issue 21.5 of the journal (Myers, 2007). Myers takes issue with the AIM model at a number of levels, and we welcome the opportunity to take part in an open debate about the importance of assessment of young sexual abusers, given the potentially harmful effects upon victims and the wider society if assessment is not as good as it should be. We have limited our response to the following areas: (1) where we feel we have common ground with Myers; (2) where we acknowledge that his comments on the model are useful; and (3) where he makes comments about the model with which we fundamentally disagree.First we will briefly sketch out what the AIM assessment is, the history of its development, the work that has been carried out examining its usefulness (Griffin and Beech, 2004;Myers, 2002) and the revision of the model (AIM2) published earlier this year (Print and others, 2007). Aim backgroundThe AIM assessment model was introduced in 2001 across Greater Manchester, as a response to the fact that professionals in relevant agencies needed an assessment tool guided by research and based on clinical judgement, to inform decisions they were making about young people who displayed sexually harmful behaviour. It was the first attempt in the UK to provide an inter-disciplinary and holistic model for the initial assessment of young people