Youth Offending Team

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In England and Wales a Youth Offending Team is a multi-agency team that is coordinated by a local authority, which is overseen by the Youth Justice Board It deals with young offenders, sets up community services and reparation plans, and attempts to prevent youth recidivism and incarceration.

A Youth Offending Team (YOT) is a statutory, multi-agency team that was set up following the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act^[1] with the intention of reducing the risk of young people offending and re-offending, and to provide counsel and rehabilitation to those who do offend. Youth Offending Teams engage in a wide variety of work with young offenders (those under 18) in order to achieve their aims. YOT's supervise young people who have been ordered by the court to serve sentences in the community. Particularly, teams organise meetings between offenders and victims to encourage apologies and reparation.

They also arrange for adult volunteers (Appropriate Adults) to accompany under 18's after their arrest in order to ensure that the offender receives everything they are entitled to, as well as to explain to them their legal position, their rights, and their options. When a youth is arrested and unaccompanied by an adult (relation or friend who is over 18), the station often calls the local YOT to request an appropriate adult to come to the relevant station.

Contents 1 Their Role in the Criminal Justice Process 1.1 Education 1.2 Psychology 2 Possible Sentences from the Youth Court 2.1 Financial Penalty 2.2 Conditional discharge 2.3 Curfew Orders 2.4 Community Rehabilitation Orders 2.5 Community Punishment Orders 2.6 Referral Orders [1] 2.7 Reparation Order 2.8 Supervision Order 2.9 Reprimand 2.10 Final Warning 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Their Role in the Criminal Justice Process

Youth Offending Teams engage young offenders in a wide range of tasks^[2] designed to put something positive back into the local community through unpaid activities, as well as preventing them from re-offending. YOT's ensure that offenders have a lower chance of re-offending by performing checkups during the rehabilitation process, checking on their accommodation, friends, possibilities of coercion into offending or drug/alcohol use, and so on.

Youth Offending Team's can also provide important information relevant to a young persons case to police officers, social workers or the courts. The YOT is often the first stage in rehabilitation for a young offender before the case is moved on to social services.

All members of Youth Offending Teams have expertise in areas relevant to the care and rehabilitation of young offenders. These include areas such as the Police Service, Probation Service, Social Services, the Health Service, Education, and Psychology.

[edit] Education

Education workers are one of the most important in Youth Offending Teams since a vast majority of young people are still in full time education when they offend. These workers liaise with schools and the education department where a young person is experiencing difficulties at school, particularly if there is a risk of exclusion or bullying.

Sometimes it can be useful for the education worker to offer a young person support with some particular aspect of his/her school work: study skills, coursework, or facilitating communication between the young person, the school, and the home. Education workers also arrange for the continuing education of young people who go into custody, particularly if they are still of school age. If possible, the workers ensure that the work done in school and custody are of equal content and quality.

School leavers also work with education workers if they need to acquire skills to apply for jobs, for example CV writing, form filling, interview advice and so on. Some educational workers also encourage young people to express their feelings in writing as a way to vent aggravation or to comprehend their difficult situation.^[3]

[edit] Psychology

Meetings between psychologists and the young person, their family, and the victim(s) in any combination or separately, can be arranged with some Youth Offending Teams who have psychologists on staff. These meetings base themselves on the idea that a young persons behaviour and offending is linked to other problems in his life.

The meetings are informal and typically last an hour but can vary in length depending on the preference of the young person and psychologist. While these meetings are primarily for conversation, the psychologist will sometimes employ drawing or other tests to explore problems. Occasionally the psychologist will include other family members if relevant. Sessions with the YOT psychologist normally occur every two to three weeks.

Reports made by the psychologist on the young person are included in that persons file, along with any other relevant information pertinent to the case.

[edit] Possible Sentences from the Youth Court

[edit] Financial Penalty

Up to a maximum of £1000

[edit] Conditional discharge

Lasting from 3 months to 3 years, with the young person being discharged on the condition that they do not commit any further offences within the specified period. If they re-offend they are re-sentenced for the offences for which the discharge was imposed as well as the additional matters.

[edit] Curfew Orders

Can be enforced with a maximum of three months for under 16 year olds, six months for those older. Restriction of liberty is enforced at the courts discretion. These orders are to combat night time offending, requiring the young person to be in the confines of their home between 6:00pm and 6:00am, these orders can stand alone or be added alongside a community penalty.

[edit] Community Rehabilitation Orders

Can last up to three years, these orders also restrict the liberties of the young person, with weekly contact for the first three months, fortnightly for the next three, and monthly thereafter. This order is only for those over 16 years of age.

[edit] Community Punishment Orders

Requiring between 40 and 240 hours of community service, or a minimum of 5 hours a week, the order must be completed in 12 months after it has been issued. Note, this order and the rehabilitation order above can be combined as one.^[4][5]

[edit] Referral Orders [1]

When an offender commits a first offence and pleads guilty, the court issues a Referral Order. This order is designed to prevent further offending by that young person. The referral order refers the young offender to a Youth Offending Team and places the young person in their care for as long as the court deems necessary. The Youth Offending Team will set up a Panel Meeting for Community volunteers to meet with the young person.

Community Panel Members decide what course or action should be followed, depending on the young person's situation, in order to prevent their further offending. Where victims of crime have agreed to attend or be represented, the victim will themselves be given the opportunity to speak about their feelings and how they have been affected. This might occur by audio, video, letter or face to face; the process is monitored by YOT team members. The contract agreed by the young person will include work on reparation to the victim(s).

At the Panel Meeting, the Community volunteers and a member of the Youth Offending Team will listen to the views of the young person regarding the offence. The views of witnesses, relatives, and the police may be represented in a report presented by the Youth Offending Team to Panel Members, and will be based on an informal meeting with the young person to learn more about him or her. Panel contracts will specify a range of programs for the young person in question. These contracts may include a letter of apology to the victims, community service, sessional training programs, or advice and support. The term of the Referral Order commences from the date signed by the young person.

If the young person fails to attend specified Panel meetings, this may lead to a reappearance in court. The violation of the contract will also lead to further legal action. Appointments and meetings must be kept. At the end of the program, the referral order is finished and the young person is released from the program. When this happens, the young person will not have a criminal record, and only when applying to certain types of job (such as a teacher) would the young person have to mention the referral order.

[edit] Reparation Order

Reparation orders can also be given by the court, attached to the referral to the YOT team. A member of the Youth Offending Team, known as a Responsible Officer, is placed in charge of the reparation program, and will give support and advice for the offender.

During several appointments, the young person is expected to perform tasks to account for their actions. Reparation orders can last a maximum of three months, aiming to prevent re-offending and rehabilitate. As with other court orders, inappropriate actions (arriving for an appointments under the influence, using abusive language, violence, or non-cooperation) will lead to a written warning. Further infractions will lead to the court being notified. This will lead to it being noted that the young person has breached his reparation order and a court appearance will take place^[6]

[edit] Supervision Order

Like other orders attached to a referral, a supervision order is designed to stop young people from re-offending; however it is a much stricter, and longer lasting order than a reparation. A Supervising Officer from the YOT is attached to the young person’s case and provides support and advice as the offender completes the referral and supervision order. As with the reparation order, appointments must be kept (once or twice a week for the first three months of the order, and then weeks for the second three months, and fortnightly after that) and the young person must maintain a respectful and cooperative attitude. On special occasions, when the order is at least half complete and the young person has made good progress, the supervision order may end early, although this is rare.

Like other orders, failure to comply at an acceptable level results in written warnings and then a further court appearance. In this second court appearance, the young person can be ordered to complete the program and issued with a fine, or else cancel the order if the court feels that there is a more appropriate way to deal with the young persons original offence.^[7]

[edit] Reprimand

For more serious offences, the police issue a reprimand, not a criminal conviction, but the reprimand is made note of on police computer records. In this case, a reprimand report is issued to the relevant YOT and the details are updated onto the electronic database as before. If the offender has no previous encounters with the police, a new file is created. If the offender has a previous history, the account is merely updated with the new referral from the police. Offenders are assigned to YOT Officers who oversee any community service or reparations. A reprimand is accompanied, like a referral, with certain programs such as a supervision order or reparation order.^[8]

[edit] Final Warning

A final warning is a disposal used by the police without an offender having to appear in court. They are issued to offenders aged 10-17 for serious or repeated offences (a three strike system is most commonly used). A record is made with the police which remains in the archive of the Youth Offending Team and the police until the offender is 18, or until 5 years has passed from the administration of the Final Warning, whichever is longer. A Final Warning on a person's record influences the decision of the courts and police if a further offense is committed.

It is the objective of the Youth Offending Teams to prevent offenders from surpassing the Final Warning and strict control is imposed on those who are in danger of re-offending; failure to keep any appointments with their case officers can result in a warrant for that offender's arrest being issued by a court and/or more stricter bail conditions being imposed.

When a Final Warning is given, the offender is asked to return to the police station in 21-28 days time for the warning to be administered. The Youth Offending Team is then contacted via a Final Warning form 143 (or 143a if the final warning was administered before YOT heard about it), which is sent to the YOT for input into the database and a number of actions are taken:

The school of the offender (if there is one) is notified and any relevant information is requested from the school. Victim support is then contacted to liaise with the victim of the offender's crime. The offender is then assigned to a YOT Case Officer who oversees all aspects of the offender's rehabilitation with the Youth Offending Team, including reparations, community service, and so forth. Both Pre-Sentence-Reports and Post-Sentence-Reports on the offender are created to aid with sentencing and profiling.

Final Warnings are only given if the young person accepts that they have committed the offence. If this is not the case, legal advice must be sought from the police or Youth Offending Team in order to combat the court’s decision.^[9]

[edit] See also

• GRIP (Group Intervention Panel)
• Glossary of commonly used terms & acronyms in the Youth Justice system [2]

[edit] References