Call to divert offenders to family courts

Young people who pass through the youth courts have often experienced a range of complex issues, from mental health problems to abuse or neglect.

While some receive support to address their problems, for others, the first time they come to the attention of the authorities is when they are arrested.

Whether to deal with young people breaking the law as criminals or to view their behaviour as a symptom of a deeper welfare need has long been disputed.

But the debate has gathered fresh impetus after Youth Justice Board chief executive John Drew called for judges and magistrates presiding in the youth courts to be afforded the power to direct a “small number of cases” to the family courts.

Preventing repeat offenders
Jon Fayle, chair of the National Association of Independent Reviewing Officers, says introducing such a measure could stop young people from becoming repeat offenders and ensure they receive the help they need to get their lives back on track.

“It would save unnecessary criminalisation of children and result in more appropriate measures, with services that are more likely to address a child’s needs than a custodial disposal,” he says.

Chris Stanley, a member of the Magistrates’ Association youth court’s committee, has been doing some work on the issue with the Michael Sieff Foundation.

He wants magistrates to be handed the power to request a Section 37 report under the Children Act 1989. This would require the local children’s services department to undertake an investigation into the needs of a young offender, which could result in them providing support services, and potentially lead to a care or supervision order in the family courts.

“The youth court could then decide how to deal with the criminal case,” he says. “If there was a strong mitigation in terms of welfare, it could mean a light sentence.”

Existing legal structures do allow services to flag up concerns about young offenders with children’s social care teams, but Stanley argues that too many young people with serious welfare needs are falling through the gaps.

“Police should contact social services, but sometimes they don’t,” he says. “Most of the social workers in youth offending teams (YOTs) are really youth justice social workers because they have been there for a long time. The link between YOTs and social services is not always good.”

But whether the family courts are able to take on any increase in workload is questionable. The latest statistics from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service show that care applications are continuing to rise to record levels.

In the seven months between April and October last year, there were 6,323 applications, up 8.2 per cent on the same period in 2011.

Courts under pressure
At a time when the government is attempting to speed up care proceedings, increase adoptions and reduce delays, there are extreme pressures on the capacity of the family courts.

Andrew Webb, vice-president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, says attention should be focused on improving existing links between services rather than diverting youth justice cases through the family courts and increasing this pressure.

He argues that the number of young people who come into the youth justice system with significant levels of need, but who are not already known to children’s services, will be small. Webb adds that the courts can already request that a child’s needs be assessed.

“The family courts are available to local authorities already if they feel the need to intervene in a child or family’s life,” he says. “I think the idea that a criminal court could be able to trigger anything other than a decision to assess a child’s needs is moving into difficult territory.

“There will be a very small number of cases, particularly where children are being exploited and are offending, where the first time they come to the local authority’s notice is their offending behaviour.

“We need to work more closely across the children and young people’s system. The number of times that the family courts would be a better arena for examining and meeting needs than informal use of the system is going to be absolutely minimal.”


Joint working between youth and family courts

Community justice centres offer a way to help young offenders access support rather than simply being punished. The centres also provide a model for closer working between the youth and family courts.

Established in September 2005, the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre aims to create an holistic approach to the court process. The building encompasses a youth court alongside a range of services including drug and alcohol, and housing support. The court also co-locates police, probation, the local youth offending team, prosecution and court services. There is a service level agreement in place between the youth court and family court to allow for closer working. An evaluation of the project found that partnership working was made far easier by co-location, with information sharing made both simpler and faster.