Youth Detention Supervision Order

• The Youth Justice Service manager must ensure that a Supervising Officer is allocated within one working day of sentence. The ACCT form must be completed by the Youth Justice Service Officer prior to the young person being taken to Les Nicolles and arrive with him/her or be faxed in advance.  The Y JS must provide the Social Enquiry Report within one working day. If it is suspected that there may be specific risk factors, e.g. self harm, health or substance misuse, these must be communicated to Les Nicolles immediately.

• Les Nicolles staff must undertake a reception interview within one hour of the offender's arrival that assesses the offender's needs and level of vulnerability. Staff undertaking the interview must see written information about the offender that will have already been sent to Les Nicolles by the supervising officer or Y JS staff involved in court proceedings.

• The supervising officer must ensure that within 24 hours of the court appearance, Les Nicolles has received a record of the current and previous assessments. These include sentence or care plans, Social Enquiry reports, current ASSET, previous convictions, health and all educational plans.

• A sentence planning meeting must be convened within 10 working days of admission. The offender's parent(s) or carer(s) should be encouraged to attend the meeting, including the LAC social worker if the young person is a looked after child.

• The planning meeting needs to ensure the views of the young person are represented.

• Relevant education staff from Les Nicolles should contribute to the sentence plan.

• The contents of all meetings need to be accurately recorded and documented.

• The sentence plan must be based on the planning meeting and must address objectives to be achieved during the custodial phase, how they will be measured, and objectives to be achieved post-transfer.

• This should be based on the ASSET assessment and must include objectives addressing the factors that contributed to the offending.  The plan must describe the contribution each agency involved with the offender will make in meeting the objectives, and the timescales in which services will be delivered. Any disagreement about the programme of work to be delivered must be recorded in the plan.

• Education, health and accommodation needs on transfer to the community must be addressed from the beginning of the sentence and firm arrangements agreed for accommodation and education, training or employment arrangements to form a seamless post-release transition. The supervising officer must ensure the plan is distributed, that the offender and the parent(s) or carer(s) understand it, and that the offender has indicated the extent of his or her agreement with the plan by signing it.

• Les Nicolles staff must deliver the plan with the active support of the supervising officer from the Youth Justice Service and other key agencies.

• Within one month of the initial planning meeting, the supervising officer must hold a case discussion with the young person's keyworker or personal officer. The purpose of this discussion is to ensure that the plan, including the individual education plan, is being implemented as agreed.

• Thereafter a review meeting involving, where possible, those who attended the initial planning meeting, must be held at least every three months. A review after two months is required if the order is of eight months or less. This process should also include the consideration of suitability for early release.

• One month before the discharge date a resettlement review meeting will be held to confirm arrangements for discharge including arrangements for education, training, employment, offending behaviour work, accommodation, health provision and other relevant issues. Within 10 days of discharge a review should be undertaken to ensure all the necessary arrangements are in place and going to plan. For this meeting, in the case of those young people serving a sentence of 12 months or more, ASSET should be updated.

• The final review meeting must detail the specific release arrangements, including reporting details and where the young person will be living in the community. If the young person is a looked after child or without suitable supported accommodation Children's Services should make suitable accommodation arrangements for the young person in advance of the release into the community.

• Before a young person can be released into the community a Notice of Supervision must be prepared, authorised and signed by the young person.

• Young offenders serving a Youth Detention Supervision Order of 12 months or less must be visited at least monthly by a Youth Justice Service member. For offenders subject to a longer order, the frequency of visits will be agreed as part of the plan, but must not be less frequent than every two months. The Supervising Officer must make regular contact with secure establishment staff to discuss progress, and must maintain regular contact with the parent(s) or carer(s).

• Post Youth Detention Supervision Order supervision

• The offender must report to the Youth Justice Service Supervising Officer on the same day as transfer to the community.
• On transfer to the community the plan must be reviewed within 10 working days and subsequently on a three-monthly basis or at the end of the order, whichever is sooner. The Supervising Officer must chair the review meetings. The offender is expected to attend. A member of the secure facility staff must attend the first review and be invited to subsequent reviews, along with those invited to reviews held during the custodial phase.

• The parent(s) or carer(s) must be encouraged to attend and contribute. The final review must assess what has been achieved during the order.

• A Youth Justice Service member must make a home visit within five working days of transfer. Home visits must then be undertaken at least monthly.

• Enforcement of the Youth Detention Supervision Order community supervision element is in line with the standards for supervision.

• The Supervising Officer must assess and monitor accommodation needs on transfer to the community and ensure that satisfactory accommodation is available.

• The Supervising Officer must, where appropriate, monitor whether the education Department is providing a continuing programme of education for those of school age of at least 25 hours per week on transfer. The Supervising Officer must monitor whether HSSD provides planned services (including drug and mental health services) on transfer to the community,

• The Supervising Officer must respond to unexplained or missed appointments including unauthorised absences from school or college during post-transfer supervision.

• If any failure to comply suggests, in the light of the risk assessment, an enhanced risk of harm to self or the community, the Supervising Officer must review the case with the Youth Justice Service manager as soon as possible and within one working day to decide what action should be taken. This may include breach action. The decision must be noted in the file.

• The Supervising Officer must provide Les Nicolles with an end of sentence report incorporating their education, training and employment performance

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