Thursday, 28 August 2008
Doncaster, along with all other areas, is required to have a Youth Offending Service (YOS) in line with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which requires each area to have a team of staff seconded from different agencies working together to reduce youth offending.
Formed in 1999, Doncaster YOS has staff from a variety of professional backgrounds including Social workers, Police officers, Probation officers, Health advisors, Education officers, Drugs workers, Accommodation officers and Connexions staff.
If you need more information regarding the background and the aims of the Youth Offending Service access the following page Youth Offending service
An Action Plan Order is a youth community sentence imposed by the courts to help reduce the likelihood of re-offending by giving you the opportunity to do a short, but intensive programme of work to tackle the causes of your offending. The Order will last for three months.
For more information please visit the following page Action Plan Order
On leaving the court you will have been given an information leaflet along with a time and date for your first appointment with a member of the Youth Offending Service at Rosemead. You must keep this appointment.
For more information visit the following page Action Plan Order
Whilst subject to an Action Plan Order you will be required to:
You are expected not to:
It is very important that you keep your appointment with your Supervisor. If you are genuinely unable to keep an appointment, contact your Supervisor as soon as possible and you will be given another time. It may be that you have a doctor’s appointment or a job interview but remember, your Supervisor will ask for proof of this. If you miss an appointment without good reason, or break any of the rules, you may be given warning letter.
For more information on the breach procedure visit the following page Action Plan Order
A Community Rehabilitation Order (CRO) is a sentence imposed by the Courts, for those aged 16 and 17 years old, to help reduce the likelihood of re-offending, as well as dealing with personal problems such as accommodation and employment.
For more information please visit the following page Community Rehabilitation Order
On leaving the court you will have been given an information leaflet, along with a time and date for your first appointment with a member of the Youth Offending Service (YOS), at Rosemead. You must keep this appointment.
For more information please visit the following page Community Rehabilitation Order
Whilst subject to a Community Rehabilitation Order you will be required to:
Whilst in Supervision you are expected not to:
It is very important that you keep your appointment with your Supervisor. If you are genuinely unable to keep an appointment, contact your Supervisor as soon as possible and you will be given another time. It may be that you have a doctor’s appointment or a job interview but remember, your Supervisor will ask for proof of this. If you miss an appointment without good reason, or break any of the rules, you may be given warning letter.
For more information on the breach procedure visit the following page Community Rehabilitation Order.
This is a combination of a Community Rehabilitation Order with community punishment hours. Hours are supervised and managed by the probation service. The number of hours is determined by the Courts and can be up to 240 hours.
The YOS will manage the ‘rehabilitation’ element of the orders in the same way it does with CRO. Your Supervising Officer will keep in regular contact with the Probation Service about your Community Punishment hours. You can be returned to court for breach of either part of the order.
This sentence requires a young person to remain for set periods of time at a specified address. The time period can be between 2 – 12 hours a day and the sentence can last no more than up to 6 months for those 16 years of age and above and 3 months for those under 16 years of age.
The Detention Training Order (DTO) sentences a young person to custody. It can be given to 12 – 17 year olds. The length of the sentence can be between four months and two years. The first half of the sentence is spent in custody whilst the second half is spent in the community under the supervision of a Youth Offending Service (YOS). The licence can require the young person to be on an Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) as a condition of the community period of the sentence.
For more information visit the following page Detention Training Order
The purpose of the Final Warning is to stop you from re-offending.
There are two ways in which the Final Warning will help you to stop offending:
1. The Final Warning session itself will help you to understand:
2. A special programme of support, activity and advice will normally follow the Final Warning, and will be arranged by the Youth Offending Service. It will be designed to help you to stop offending; to help you to find different things to do and to help you to put right some of the harm done.
A Final Warning is a serious matter. It is the last opportunity for you to stop offending before being taken to Court. It is recorded by the Police and if you offend again within two years you must go to Court.
Because it is serious, the Final Warning may involve you in a meeting or conference where you might be asked to apologise to the victim of your crime and agree to take action to put right some of the harm done.
Following the police decision to give you a Final Warning you will be visited by a member of the Youth Offending Service. The Youth Offending Service will help to explain what will happen and offer you any advice that you need to benefit most from the Final Warning.
After a Final Warning has been given you will usually be expected to take part in a special programme to help you stop offending. It will also help you find alternatives to offending and deal with any related difficulties you may have (such as not getting the most out of school or misusing drugs or alcohol); and to put right some of the harm done.
All crime is serious and has consequences, but you might be offered a Final Warning before being taken to Court. If it is a first offence or if you have reoffended following a Police Reprimand. If you offend again within two years you will be taken to Court and your punishment will reflect the number and seriousness of your offences.
Final Warnings are only for people who accept they committed the offence being investigated. If you do not accept that you committed the offence you should talk to the Police about seeking legal advice.
The Police will keep a record of the Final Warning until you are 18 years old, or for five years after it is given whichever is the longer. This will help them decide any further action if you offend again.
A Final Warning is not a conviction and you are entitled to say to a potential employer that you do not have a conviction. However, as with cautions, a Final Warning may be disclosed to employers in certain circumstances eg for work with children, the sick or vulnerable.
An order is made by the Courts when someone is found guilty of an offence. It details what punishment people must receive for their offences
For more information access the following page Implementation of orders
There is information available on the following page Victims of Youth Crime
The Youth Justice Board is investing approximately £60 million in 74 ISSP schemes to deal with the most active repeat young offenders, and those who commit the most serious crimes. Between them the schemes cover all the Youth Offending Services in England and Wales.
The programme aims to:
For more information please visit the following page ISSP
ISSP is the most rigorous, non-custodial intervention available for young offenders. As its name suggests, it combines unprecedented levels of community-based surveillance with a comprehensive sustained focus on tackling the factors that contribute to the young persons offending behaviour. Responsibility for delivering ISSP rests with a dedicated team within your local Youth Offending Service (YOS), (or partnership of YOS).
ISSP can last for 12 months, although most young people will spend 6 months on ISSP. The most intensive supervision (25 hours per week) lasts for the first 3 months of the programme. Following this, the supervision continues at a reduced intensity (a minimum of 5 hours per week and weekend support) for a further 3 months. On completion of ISSP the young person will continue to be supervised for the remaining period of their order. There is also provision for a medium intensive stage of 15 hours per week if it is felt necessary.
For more information please visit the following page ISSP
This was a new order as established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
The Parenting Order provides parents/carers with support, guidance and training for up to 12 months, and helps parents to prevent their child from re-offending, engaging in further anti-social behaviour or to help promote school attendance.
A Parenting Order can be made in the following circumstances against the parent/carer of any child who is brought into court for an offence:
Any parent or carer that a young person lives with can be given a Parenting Order - so this may include a step-parent.
A parent who is not living with, but is in regular contact, may also be issued with a separate order.
When a Parenting Order is made, the parent/carer should give their details and contact number to the representative of Doncaster Youth Offending Service (YOS) or Education Welfare Service (EWS) who is in court.
For more information please visit the following page Parenting Orders
When making an order, the Court must only consider the evidence before them at the prosecution.
For more information please visit the following page Parenting Orders
A Parenting Order can be made without the parent/carer being present in court, but it is better if they can attend because, if asked, they can express their views.
For more information please visit the following page Parenting Orders
If the parent/carer does not give genuine reasons for this, they will be in breach of the order. This means the parent/carer will first be given a written warning and, if they still fail to keep to the conditions of the order, a meeting will be called to review the situation.
If, after these procedures, the parent/carer still does not comply with the order, they may be taken back to court. If this does happen, the parent/carer will be subject to further proceedings, resulting in a criminal conviction, which could be a fine of up to £1000 or an Adult Community Sentence.
For more information please visit the following page Parenting Orders
The Youth Offending Service is asked by the Court to prepare a Pre-Sentence Report, sometimes called a ‘PSR’. This is a written report to help the Court consider the choices open to it when you are sentenced.
On leaving the court, you will be given a time and date for an appointment to see a member of the Youth Offending Service. You must keep this appointment and if you are 16 years old or younger your parent or guardian must attend the appointment with you.
For more information please visit the following page Pre-sentence report
A Reparation Order is a sentence imposed by the courts to:
For more information please visit the following page Reparation Orders
A Supervision Order is a youth community sentence imposed by the court to help reduce the likelihood of re-offending as well as helping with personal problems such as accommodation and employment. The aims of a Supervision Order are to:
For more information please visit the following page Supervision Order
