Youth Justice
Reducing youth crime and reforming the youth justice system are a major part of the Government's effort to build safer communities and tackle social exclusion.
The Government has embarked on the most radical reform of the youth justice system for 50 years. Reform focuses on preventing offending by children and young people, through:
- a clear strategy to prevent offending and re-offending by children and young people;
- helping offenders, and their parents, to face up to their offending behaviour and take responsibility for it;
- earlier, more effective intervention when young people first offend;
- faster, more efficient procedures from arrest to sentence; and
- partnership between all youth justice agencies to deliver a better, faster system.
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 establishes preventing offending as the principal aim of the youth justice system and places a statutory duty on all those working in the youth justice system to have regard to that aim.
A new approach to tackling youth crime
The Act includes new powers to enable early, targeted intervention to deal with anti-social behaviour and to divert the very young from crime:
- local child curfew schemes to protect children under the age of 10 in a particular area from getting into trouble. Under these powers, which were brought into force on September 30 1998, local authorities may apply to the Home Office to establish a local scheme which may, for example, form part of local crime and disorder strategies required under section 6 of the Act;
- New legislation under sections 48 and 49 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 raises the upper age limit of children who may be the subject of a local child curfew to 15 and also allows the police as well as local authorities to apply for a local curfew scheme. The new legislation takes effect from August 1 2001 and new guidance to explain the changes has been produced by the Home Office.
- child safety order to provide targeted intervention with children under 10 at risk of getting into trouble.
- anti-social behaviour orders to deal with serious, but not necessarily criminal, anti-social behaviour by those aged 10 and above. These powers were brought into force on April 1 1999; and
- powers for the police to remove truants to designated premises to allow the police, working with local authorities and schools, to tackle truancy, one of the factors that put young people at risk of offending. These powers came into force on 1 December 1998.
The Act includes new powers for the police and courts to intervene when young people do offend and new structures at local and national level have been introduced to provide the framework to tackle youth offending.
Youth offending teams will bring together the staff and wider resources of the police, social services, the probation service, education and health, in the delivery of youth justice services, with the scope to involve others, including the voluntary sector.
Youth Offending Teams
The Youth Offending Team or Service (YOT or YOS) has a critical role in terms of tackling young people's anti-social behaviour. However, it is important to remember that young people are more likely to be victims of anti-social behaviour than perpetrators of it.
YOTs are involved in a number of national and local early intervention and preventative initiatives including Positive Activities for Young People PAYP, Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIP), Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISP), Sure Start and Education initiatives.
YOT staff typically include social workers, education welfare officers, Connexions staff, police officers, probation officers and health and substance misuse workers. YOTs work and performance is overseen by the non-departmental government body the Youth Justice Board (YJB).
The YJBs' aims and objectives are:
- confronting young offenders with the consequences of their offending
- punishment proportionate to the seriousness and persistence of offending
- encouraging reparation to victims by young offenders
- reinforcing parents' responsibilities
- swift administration of justice
- interventions that target particular factors which put a young person at risk of offending.
YOTs undertake the following roles:
- assessment - assessing the risk and protective factors in a young persons life that relate to their offending behaviour to enable effective interventions to be implemented.
- providing support to young people on police and court bail.
- providing support to young people in the court setting.
- supervising and managing the cases of young offenders.
- providing support to young people who have been released into the community from custody.
- strategic planning and performance monitoring - YOTs must report on their performance in a number of key areas to the YJB on a quarterly basis.
Anti-social behaviour
It is important that YOTs and their partners work towards shared outcomes and aims, to respond to victims and community needs. YOT officers can offer many skills including assessing the needs of young people in order that they are able to change their behaviour.
Early Intervention:
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YOTs are involved in a number of national and local early intervention and preventative initiatives including Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP), Youth Inclusion Programmes,(YIP) Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISP), Sure Start and Education initiatives. Contact your local YOT to find out how to refer a young person to any of these schemes.
Voluntary Interventions:
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YOTs must be involved in the Acceptable Behaviour Contract/Agreement process and can help ensure that young people understand the consequences of their behaviour. There is scope for the use of Parenting Contracts by the YOT alongside an ABC,a new provision in the Anti-social Behaviour Act (2003).
Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs):
- The role of the YOT needs to be clearly set out in terms of what they can offer in the ASBO process. All other agencies should involve the YOT in any considerations of an ASBO as they are likely to have a lot of information about that young person to share. The YOT has a responsibility to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour by young people and should help partners to obtain an order to stop the behaviour continuing. If there are any doubts about the option of obtaining an ASBO these should be explored at an early stage with the YOT and other partners rather than in court. The YOT could also have a role in explaining the conditions of the ASBO to the young person, explaining the impact of their behaviour on the community and making it clear that the ASBO is the consequence of that behaviour.
- In cases of a breach of an ASBO the pre-sentence report provided to the court by the YOT should outline the impact the behaviour has had upon the community. The YOT can also use the pre-sentence report in criminal proceedings to recommend an order on conviction.
- Courts must make a Parenting Order with an ASBO if it will help improve behaviour, together with an Individual Support Order if conditions are met. The YOT has a key role in both of these interventions.
Reparation and Restorative Justice
- The YOT considers the question of reparation and restorative justice at all stages.
Further information
