Assisting young people aged 16 and 17 in court
A toolkit for local authorities, the judiciary, court staff, police, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and service providers.
Appendix 9
Alternatives to Custodial Sentences: Examples of good practice
(See also Guidance on Alternatives to Secure Care and Custody [78] )
Opportunities For Change, Young offenders - a problem or an opportunity? Evaluation Report May 2010. [79]
A Community Justice Authority pilot project developed to better meet the needs of young people who offend, many of whom will have been or may still be subject to Children's Hearing 'supervision' and have experienced secure accommodation, when they appear before the Sheriff Court. The project was developed in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Borders Council, West Lothian Council, Midlothian Council, East Lothian Council, SCRA, SPS, Includem and Venture Trust.
Youth Structured Deferred Sentence (North Ayrshire Council)
The Structured deferred sentence was piloted in Arbroath, Forfar, Inverness, Ayr and Kilmarnock for three years commencing in 2005, and an evaluation report published in April 2008. [80] It was found that compliance was higher than for community service or probation and a third of high tariff SDS orders resulted in the desired outcome of a non-custodial sentence. The scheme was subsequently rolled out to Glasgow and Tayside in 2008.
Isle of Lewis (Western Isles Council)
When compiling a Criminal Justice Social Work Report a deferred sentence of a young person for a period of 6 months was suggested. The young person was then accommodated in a Close Support unit. This proved beneficial, seeing the young person avoiding further offending for 2 years. The fact that the Court and the Hearing System operated in tandem in this case worked well. Liaison with the young person's solicitor was also vital.
Other Services Available
Arrest Referral Service
The Arrest Referral Service [81] engages with people at the point of arrest whose offending is linked to drug or alcohol misuse. By seeing the individuals as soon as they are arrested, SACRO can offer them a pathway into harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation services.
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback