Nottinghamshire County Council
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Nottinghamshire County Council
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The Youth Offending Teams, are made up of seconded staff from the Police, Social Services, Probation, Education & Health, working together towards the prevention of offending and re-offending by children and young people. The Nottinghamshire Youth Offending Teams cover the seven Crime and Disorder Partnership areas of: Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood and Rushcliffe.
The management of these areas is split into 4 groups:
Central Services (Management, administration & specialist teams)
Edwinstowe House
High Street, Edwinstowe
Notts
NG21 9PQ
Tel: 01623 827649
Newark and Bassetlaw
Martlet School
Newgate Street
Worksop
Notts
S80 2LW
Tel: 01909 544500
and a second office at
65 Northgate
Newark
Notts
NG24 1HD
Tel: 01636 647920
Mansfield and Ashfield
Dale Close
100 Chesterfield Road South
Mansfield
Notts
NG19 7AQ
Tel: 01623 452216
Broxtowe, Rushcliffe and Gedling
Heathcote Buildings
1-3 Heathcoat Street
Nottingham
NG1 3AF
Tel: 01158 599010
Nottinghamshire Police restructured their Divisions in April 2002 to match the boundaries of Crime and Disorder Partnerships and with this change the Police Divisions now correspond to the above areas.
Under the age of 18 interventions can take various forms depending on the severity and frequency of the crimes committed. The first 3 types of intervention listed below, are dealt with entirely by the police and do not involve a Court Appearance.
1. Informal Warning
2. Reprimand
3. Final Warning – Referred to the Youth Offending Team for offender and victim assessment with the following possible outcomes:
4. Referral Order – 3/12 months in length. This order is a “spent conviction” and doesn’t have to be declared by the young person when applying for employment etc. post 18 years. The court will order that the offender sits with a parent/carer opposite a panel made up of 2 trained members (representing the public), the victim and a YOT Officer. All will make a decision about how best to deal with offence, offender and victims wishes. The panel can include:
5. Reparation order – Max of 24 hours, commonly referred to as “community payback”
6. Action Plan Orders – 3 months duration covering Education, Health, Reparation, Drug – Alcohol misuse, Victims, Rehabilitation and Attendance Centre hours.
7. Attendance Centre Orders – Max of 24 hours. Run by the Police the sessions include crime awareness and physical instruction.
8. Supervision Orders – Max 24 months. Twice weekly appointments with YOT officer to deal with issues of education, employment, health, drug/alcohol misuse and victims.
9. Community Rehabilitation – Max 24 month. As above but transferred to the National Probation Service at 18 years.
10. Community Punishment – Min 40 hours & maximum 240 hours. Managed by the National Probation Service Community Service Teams.
11. Deferred Sentence
12. Detention and Training Order – Minimum 4 months & maximum 2 years with half spent in an institution and half spent in the community on licence.
13. Drug Treatment and Testing Order
14. Intensive Supervision and Surveillance (ISSP) –
Normally 6 months, for offenders who are identified as being most at risk of re-offending or causing serious harm. This intervention can be made part of a community sentence or following release on licence from prison. The young person is normally electronically tagged and will be on an overnight curfew . They are also required to engage in planned constructive activity during the day, which will includes education, support sessions with partner agencies and reparation work.
ISSP can also be used as an alternative to prison, while the offender is put on remand by the court, prior to sentencing.
15. Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) - Can be made against any young person over 10 years old. Application for an ASBO can be made by the local authority, chief officer or other agencies, like transport police.
Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISPs) aim to prevent anti-social behaviour and offending by those 8 to 13-year-olds who are considered to be at high risk of offending.
They are multi-agency planning groups that offer early intervention based on assessed risk and needs. Parenting support in the form of guidance and group sessions, are offered as part of a range of tailored interventions
The RJ team invite victims to get involved in the sentencing process of the young offender. This allows the victim to confront the offender either by letter or face to face to explain how the victim has been affected as a consequence of their unlawful activities. Research shows the effectiveness of RJ, related to victim satisfaction, reduction in offending and impact on the community.
Parenting Orders can be given to the parents/carers of young people who offend, truant or who have received a Child Safety Order, Anti-Social Behaviour Order or Sex Offender Order. The Parenting Order can last for 3 to 12 months. and will not result in the parent/carer getting a criminal record.
A parent/carer who receives a Parenting Order will be required to meet with a member of the Parenting team, with a view to attending guidance and or group sessions. They may also have conditions imposed on them such as attending their child's school, ensuring their child does not visit a particular place unsupervised or ensuring their child is at home at particular times. A failure to fulfil the conditions can be treated as a criminal offence and the parent/carer can be prosecuted.
The MENSKI scheme, Mentoring, Support and Kinship, aims to provide assistance and support to young people who are at risk of offending or re-offending. We want young people to realize their best potential and mentors can assist them in achieving positive outcomes in their lives. We seek to recruit volunteer mentors from local communities who:
This support can be organised through projects such as:
We also work with volunteers who sit on local Community Panels.
Young offenders who plead guilty for the first time may receive a Referral Order. They must attend a Youth Offender Panel who will decide on a course of action. The panel will have 2 community members and a Youth Offending Team worker and together with the young offender, their parent/carer and victim(s), a contract will be agreed which will:
The contract is supervised by the Youth offending team and reviewed regularly. If the young person fails to comply, they are sent back to court and a different sentence may be given.
Community members on the panel will take the lead in challenging the young offender to take responsibility for their actions and to try and restore and repair the damage
The main element of the panel is the inclusion of victims and their say in how the crime has affected them and how it can be put right
For further details about the role of volunteers and the MENSKI scheme you can e-mail the restorative justice team
or Tel: 01623 520108
In 1998 the Crime and Disorder Act changed the face of the Youth Justice System in England and Wales. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 also helped change the landscape of the Youth Justice System and introduced a radical new way of dealing with young people who have offended for the first time.
The Aim of the Youth Justice System is to prevent offending by children and young persons. All agencies and individuals working within the Youth Justice System are expected to work in partnership towards achieving this central aim, and in carrying out their roles and responsibilities they refer to six key objectives.
The six objectives incorporated into the National Standards for the Youth Justice System are:
1. The swift administration of justice so that every young person accused of breaking the law has the matter resolved without delay.
In 1996, the period from arrest to sentencing of a young person took an average of 142 days. The uncertainty of a potential sentence being passed at some time in the future led to unnecessary stress being placed on young people, their family and friends. Many young people committed further crimes during this waiting period and, in turn, had to wait for these new offences to be processed. If found guilty, the sentence served by the young person was so long after the offence that it appeared meaningless to the young person and detached from their crime. Since 1998, all agencies working in the Youth Justice System have had a duty to work as quickly and efficiently as possible, although it is important to emphasise that this should not be done at the expense of ensuring that 'justice' is done in the eyes of the offender, the victim (s) and the wider community. The Government set performance targets for all agencies to halve the national average time from arrest to sentence from the 142 days in 1996, to 71 days. This target was met for persistent offenders in July 2001 and is continuing to improve.
2. Confronting young people with the consequences of their offending for themselves, their family, their victims and the community, and helping them to develop a sense of personal responsibility.
It is important that young people take personal responsibility for their offences if they are to become less likely to repeat offending. In order to develop this personal responsibility, young people must see the effect of their crime on others, particularly the victim. This forms part of the ethos of restorative justice5. Staff working with young people should support them in taking responsibility for their actions and help them to work through the consequences.
3. Providing intervention that tackles the particular factors that put the young person at risk of offending (personal, family, social, educational or health), and strengthens 'protective factors'.
A vast number of complex contributory factors lead to a young person offending, therefore every young person needs an individually targeted intervention to tackle the reasons for their offending behaviour (risk factors), or to encourage those factors that prevent them offending (protective factors).
This means that a wide range of interventions needs to be available to confront risk factors and to build on protective factors. The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act states that intervention should be provided on a statutory basis across England and Wales at an equally high standard and should reflect the nature and seriousness of the offence.
4. Punishment proportionate to the seriousness and persistence of the offending.
The Youth Justice System needs to be transparent and fair so that young people, victims, families and society in general can have confidence in it. Court responses need to reflect the seriousness of the offending and take all the relevant circumstances of the case into consideration.
5. Encouraging reparation to victims.
Reparation denotes confronting young people who offend with the consequences of their crime and actively supporting them to take responsibility for their actions and to make amends. Reparation may mean apologising for a crime or doing something that goes some way to rectifying the damage. Victims are given the opportunity to participate in this process by helping young people to become aware of the consequences of the offence.
6. Reinforcing the responsibilities of parents.
Poor or inadequate parenting is a 'risk' factor that increases the likelihood of a young person offending. Parents and guardians play a key role in preventing young people from offending, but also in supporting them if they go through the Youth Justice System. Some parents/guardians need support and encouragement to carry out their roles and the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act enables this support to be provided.
For further details on YOT strategy, targets and activity visit the following websites:
Youth Justice Board: www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk
Home Office: www.homeoffice.gov.uk
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