Youth Offender Panels

From April 2002, England and Wales will pioneer an entirely new way of dealing with young offenders aged between 10 and 17 years old.

All of the local criminal justice agencies have combined their efforts and resources to bring the scheme to Leicester.

This partnership now needs to involve local people of the community to make it work.

What is a Youth Offender Panel?
Most young offenders who appear in court for the first time and plead guilty will receive a Referral Order, lasting from 3 to 12 months and requiring them to attend a Youth Offender Panel meeting.

What happens at the Panel Meetings?
Each Youth Offender Panel meeting will have two community members and a member of the Youth Offending Team.

The panel will be led by one of the community members, with the Youth Offending Team member providing information and support.

The panel will meet with the young offender, their family and where appropriate, the victim with the aim of reaching an agreement that:

• Considers how and why the offences occurred and what can be done to prevent it happening again
• Ensures young offenders take responsibility for their behaviour.
• Increases the young offender’s understanding of the harm done to the victim and how they can make amends.
• Afterwards, the Youth Offending Team will monitor the young offender to ensure adherence to the agreement. The panel will meet to review progress and can refer the youth offender back to court if the agreement is not being kept.

How is a youth Offender Panel different from a Youth Court?
Although Panel has the backing of the court, it is not a court of law. There are several important differences:

• Panel will be less formal than courts. This will encourage communication between the young offenders, their family and their victims
• Panel members will have a particular understanding of the effects of crime in the community.
• The local nature of panels will bring home the real effects of crime to the young offender by requiring them to consider the effects of their actions on victims and the rest of the community.

Who can be a panel member?
As long a s you are at least 18 years old, you can apply to be a community panel member. No qualification or experience is required and the most important factor will be your personal qualities.

Panels will reflect the communities they serve and we are looking for members who reflect the diversity of the areas they come from, in term of age, gender , ethnic origin and social background.

You should be of good character, although criminal convictions will not necessarily disqualify you as long as they are not serious or recent.

You will need to be prepared to undergo police checks and provide references to show you are suitable to deal with young people.

Commitment
Community Panel members will be expected to serve on at least one panel per month. We expect panel meeting to last between 45-90minutes

You will receive 56 hours training in the first year and regular refresher course and support from the youth offending team after that.

Members will need to commit themselves to serving for at least a year.

If you are interested, please contact
Referral Order Coordinator
Leicester City Youth Offending Team
0116 299 5830
Or visit
Leicester City Youth Offending Team
Eagle House
11 Frair Lane, Leicester
LE1 5RB
Tel: 0116 299 5830
Email: youth.offending.team@leicester.gov.uk