Service Manager, Centre Services, Glasgow Health & Social Care Partnership
Young people in conflict with the law are increasingly being recognised as a distinct cohort, requiring a tailored justice approach within Scotland. Recent years have seen a number of court-based pilots for young people established and evaluated in different parts of the country, with varying levels of success.
The establishment of the Glasgow Youth Court in June 2021 was a significant achievement, and the product of strong partnership working. The reasoning behind the establishment of the Glasgow Youth Court included: a focus on rehabilitation; a recognition of the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma; an acknowledgement of the role of maturation and development; a means by which to divert away from the adult court; and a way of offering intensive supports.
Changes to the judicial landscape have also taken place via the introduction of new young person sentencing guidelines in early 2022.
These guidelines apply to those under the age of 25 at the date of their plea of guilty, or when a finding of guilt is made against them. Most recently, the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill (at stage 2 at time of writing), contains important provisions aimed at safeguarding the welfare and safety of those involved in criminal proceedings.
The Glasgow Youth Court is a judicially led initiative which has been supported by Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) and which has been operational since June 2021. Functioning within the Glasgow Sheriff Court, it operates on a problem-solving basis, covering those aged between 16 and 24-years-old.
Hear from Kev Lafferty, who talks about what Youth Court is and how it works using research by the Children & Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) works. Kev draws on his own experience to support young people in the care or justice system. CLICK THE VIDEO LINK BELOW.
Where the presiding Sheriff is satisfied, the Glasgow Youth Court utilises Structured Deferred Sentences (SDS), which combines multi-disciplinary intervention and support in the community, with regular court reviews to monitor and encourage young people’s progress.
In an article in the 2021-22 Annual Report ’The Early Days – Glasgow’s New Youth Court’, I outlined the importance of multi-agency working as key to the success of the Youth Court model as every young person requires a holistic, person-centred, tailored plan that focusses on their own individual needs and risks. Youth Court staff have utilised support from a range of HSCP services and voluntary organisations to support the young people they are working with to enhance their education, and employability, provide them with opportunities to build their confidence and benefit from communal experiences, and to meet any specialist needs (e.g., addiction, mental health, etc.). Provision across these areas has typically been provided by the following organisations or services:
- Venture Trust
- Skills Development Scotland
- Includem ISMS
- Addiction Services (Drug and Alcohol)
- Mental Health Services
- Rangers Charity Foundation
- Celtic FC Foundation
- Blue Triangle
- ChoiceWorks
Mo Reid, Team Leader, Skills Development Scotland (Glasgow) commented:
“We have supported approximately 45 young people since between 1st April 22 and 31st March 23 to enhance their employability skills. We know that this will give the young people the tools to change direction and improve their life outcomes. These young people are mainly supported 1 to 1 by our work coaches. There are mixed results with some young people not engaging very well to some young people engaging extremely well.
We will continue to collaborate, learn and develop to ensure that we can continue to provide a service that meets the needs of the individuals who often have multiple and complex needs. I will be attending the Youth Court Staff Development day to increase knowledge and understanding of our services. Recently Social Workers from the Youth Court attended a partner event hosted by Skills Development Scotland and have given a presentation to our staff. All in all the relationship is very positive and they are a highly valued partner.”
I had also committed in the previous article to bring you an update on the evaluation by the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) – commissioned by GCHSCP in late 2021 – to undertake research into the Glasgow Youth Court, with the purpose of:
- documenting the implementation, design and operation of the Youth Court;
- evaluating data relating to Youth Court outcomes; and
- evidencing how the Youth Court is experienced by a range of key stakeholders.
This report, through examination of the above themes, provides insight into how the Youth Court has been operationalised, how it has been experienced, and its key outcomes – See graph 1 below.
CPO = Community Payback Order SDS – Structured Deferred Sentence DfP – Diversion from Prosecution
Graph 1 above, highlights the impact that the Youth Court has had on sentencing practice since its inception. From 2019 to 2022 there has been:
- a reduction in the use of Community Payback Orders (CPOs) for this age group from 84.4% of all orders for young people to 38.5%;
- at the same time the use of Structured Deferred Sentence (SDS) has increased from just 5.5% of all orders for young people to representing 33% of all orders.
The evaluation also looks at key aspects of a young person’s experience at Court. This involved semi structured interviews with young people as well as observations of the Court in practice. The findings focussed on several key areas that research highlights can have a significant impact on a young person’s experience and includes:
- how well prepared they are for their court appearance;
- how the courtroom is configured or arranged;
- the extent to which they understand the language being used;
- the extent to which they can meaningfully participate in proceedings; and
- how well they are supported.
Finally, the evaluation makes a number of key recommendations in terms of how the operation of the Youth Court could be improved moving forward. Full details of the evaluation and as well as a young person’s version of the report can be accessed by CLICKING THE PICTURE LINKS OR SCANNING THE QR CODES BELOW.
