Find out about the community orders that are usually given as sentences to young offenders.
A referral order (RO) is an order made by the court, to help you to take responsibility for your behaviour and stop offending.
It’s a community-based order most often used by the courts when dealing with 10 to 17-year-olds, particularly for first-time offenders who plead guilty.
A court will decide how long a referral order will last, but it will be between 3-12 months.
The court will tell you to attend a meeting called the youth offending panel.
Volunteers will take the lead in working with children in order to identify a plan to help them take responsibility for their actions and helping them to change their behaviour for good.
The panel will:
Panel meetings are less formal than court, and are to encourage you to engage with the panel members.
You will be expected to talk to the panel members and agree a contract with them,
You will meet at regular intervals with the panel when they will check to see if you are following the agreements made as part of the contract.
There are 3 people on the panel. Two of them are from the local community and the third is from the youth offending team (YOT).
A YOT worker will meet with you to find out more about you, so that they can write a report for the panel.
This report will help the panel decide on an appropriate programme to support you not to re-offend.
You will be given the time, date and place of the panel meeting. If you do not attend, you will have to go back to court.
Your parent / carer will also be expected to attend.
The panel is not like a court, but you must treat everyone with respect.
The victim of your offence may be there or the panel may tell you their views.
They may say how they feel about the offence and what they would like to happen.
Your parent or carer will also have the chance to speak.
The panel will listen to what you have to say. They will expect you to agree to a contract which sets out what you will do.
The contract you agree should include repairing some of the harm to the victim and activities to help you stop offending, such as:
You will have time to finish the contract in the time set by the Court.
The YOT will help you with this. You can expect to attend a panel meeting about every 3 months, so the panel can hear about the progress you are making.
If you do not keep to the contract, you will have to go back to the panel and they may decide to send you back to court.
When you have completed your contract, there will be a final panel meeting. Your referral order will be finished and your conviction will be spent. This means for most jobs you will not have to tell anyone about it.
The youth rehabilitation order (YRO) is a community sentence with 18 requirements.
Judges and magistrates may choose a single requirement or combination of requirements depending on the seriousness of the offence and the potential risk of harm posed.
The requirements enable you to engage with interventions most likely to address your offending behaviour.
The 18 requirements are:
You must report as directed by your YOT worker, complying with the requirements of the order.
Between 40 and 300 hours, to be completed in 12 months.
Projects include gardening, painting/decorating and removing graffiti.
The requirement is only available for 16 and 17 year olds.
The unpaid work requirement is called unpaid work (but adults may call it ‘community payback’).
The work and tasks are supervised by Hackney YOT.
The hours set by a court must be completed; they cannot be ignored unless a court ends the requirement.
This could consist of activities leading to reparation, such as restorative justice.
Aimed at changing offending behaviour.
These programmes are designed to address the attitudes and patterns of behaviour that contribute to offending, such as programmes for consequential thinking and weapons awareness programmes.
You must not take part in activities on a specified day or days or during a period set by the court.
You must stay at a specified place during certain times; eg you must stay where you live between 6pm-9am.
From certain areas – you may not enter a specified place for a period up to 3 months.
You must live as directed by the local authority.
You must live at a specified place.
The court must be satisfied that your mental health condition is such that this kind of treatment is needed.
This requirement can only be given with your consent and the consent of your parents/carers.
You are required to have treatment to reduce or stop your dependency on or likelihood of misusing drugs.
You are required to provide samples for drug testing on a random basis.
This requirement can only be given with your consent and that of your parents/ carers.
You agree to give a sample (eg mouth swab) to find out whether you have drugs in your system.
You must attend an attendance centre.
Use of tagging and voice verification in checking you are at a specified location during specified times.
This could consist of packages of work on basic skills, employment, training and education or include active plans related to maintaining education in conjunction with schools.
This is an alternative to custody and is given only to young people who have committed very serious offences.
You live with the foster family under their rules.
ISS is an alternative to custody given to young people who have committed serious offences.
It involves numerous contact with the YOT and an intensive work plan.
You are required to attend treatment to reduce or eliminate dependency on alcohol.
The requirement can only be given with your consent and the consent of your parent/carer.
If you would like to make a compliment, complaint or comment about the youth offending team please get in touch with the service manager. Email your full name and contact details to: yot@hackney.gov.uk marking it for the attention of the service manager.
If you are not satisfied, you can also make a formal children’s social care complaint.
Tel 2 - 020 8356 1090