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Contents

Stage 1:  After a Referral Order has been given at Court Stage 2:  Asset Interview Stage 3: Arranging the Initial Panel Meeting Stage 4:  Referral Order Report Stage 5: Initial Panel Meeting Stage 6:  Review/Final Panel Meeting Stage 7: Programme Allocation and Reviews Stage 8: Breach Stage 9: Extensions Stage 10: Quarterly returns Stage 11: Closure Stage 12: Fortnightly Referral Order Review Meetings

Stage 1: After a Referral Order has been given at Court

• The Court Admin. Team will ascertain with the worker responsible for Asset interviews his or her availability for appointments. At Court a leaflet and a letter confirming the appointment will be given to the young person. (To meet National Standards this should be within 5 days of the Court appearance).

Court admin.:

• Ensures CPS documents are available; if not faxes request form to CPS
• Inputs the young person’s education provider on Careworks
• Forwards Referral Form with victim details to victim worker
• Blue court referral faxed to worker responsible for Asset interviews within 24 hours (CPS material and all other information will be forwarded to the worker as soon as possible).
• All information, including available telephone numbers, to be put on Careworks
• Referral made to worker responsible for Asset interviews on Careworks.
• Cases will be pre-allocated to Project Workers on RO allocations spreadsheet by the Operational Manager. Cases will be allocated on Careworks after the Initial Panel Meeting.

Stage 2: Asset Interview

• New Referral Orders will be emailed  to the Operational Manager (Pre-Court) for pre-allocation
• The young person will have two opportunities to attend an ASSET appointment.  If they fail to attend, they will be sent to an Initial Panel without a report.
• At the first meeting a Panel date will be agreed upon with the young person and carer who will sign a form stating that they understand that the young person may be returned to court if he/she fails to attend the Panel. (To meet National Standards this date will be within 20 days of the young person’s attendance at court).
• If further information regarding school/college comes to light, the school/college will be contacted. All information regarding the young person’s education will be entered into section 3 of the Asset.
• The worker responsible for Asset interviews will check Carefirst for any pertinent information from Children’s Social Care Services

Stage 3: Arranging the Initial Panel Meeting

• A panel diary will be kept, which will be identified as having ‘all user’ access
• The date for ALL panels will be added to groupwise
• A completed calendar will be sent to panel members on the Friday the week before the meeting. Responsibility for ensuring that young people attend Initial Panel Meetings, Review Panel Meetings and Final Panel Meetings.
• Panel members will be ‘block-booked’ so that there will be periods when specific panel members are available

Stage 4: Referral Order Report

• Victim impact statements will not be attached to the report nor sent to panel members in advance. Rather it will be read out in the panel meeting to maximise impact.
• Contact will be made with the victim as soon as information about the offence details and date is received. The information will be placed on the victim section of Careworks. Checks will be made for updates on a regular basis.
• A gate keeping form must be completed for each Initial Panel report. The final report must be completed with enough time to allow for gatekeeping.
• The line manager of the report author, or in their absence any team manager within the YOS, will gatekeep the report. 
• The Panel members will view the report 30 minutes before the Panel starts so they are aware of any issues before the meeting commences.
• The young person and their carer should be given the opportunity to see the report 15 minutes prior to the Panel meeting.     

Stage 5: Initial Panel Meeting  

• At the Initial Panel, a date for the Review/Final Panel will be booked (i.e. in three months time), which Panel members will agree and put in their diary. 
• An appointment will be made with the young person to attend their first appointment with their project worker.  This can be done in person between project worker and young person, or by way of a letter.  The date will also be added to the contract.
• The young person and parent are both provided with copies of the contract at the conclusion of the Panel.
• A short de-brief form is completed with Panel members after the young person and parent has left.

Stage 6: Review/Final Panel Meeting

• Two weeks before the Review/Final Panel date, the date will be confirmed with the Panel members who were on the Initial Panel.  If they are not able to attend then another Panel member will be booked.
• Two Panel members are required for Review Panels and Final Panels where possible, but definitely when it is an emergency Panel meeting.  
• The caseworker will be responsible for reminding the young person that they need to attend this meeting. 
• The case-holder will be responsible for attending Review Panels and Final Panels.
• The case-holder will have all the paperwork prepared for the Review Panel/Initial Panel i.e. Panel Report, crib sheets and will give a short brief to the Panel members (a report is not required). Case-holders will take notes in the Review Panel and Final Panel meetings and will complete the appropriate review/closure report on Careworks.
• For Reviews/Final Panel Meetings, the Panel date will be recorded in the Panel Diary and in Careworks under contacts. 
• At the fortnightly Referral Order Review Meeting, all Review Panels and Final Panels will be identified and finalised for the two weeks terminating four weeks later, i.e. at the first meeting, all Reviews and Finals will be agreed for the following four weeks. 
• At the following meeting in a fortnight, all Reviews and Finals will be determined for the following two weeks.

Stage 7: Programme Allocation and Reviews

Allocation

• Following the Initial Panel, details of the contract will be entered on Careworks, a copy of contract in contract box and original of contract in file.
• The case file including the contract will be passed to the Operational Manager for allocating on Careworks and recording the reparation hours.
• The Operational Manager will ensure the relevant dates are placed on the orders and programme page of Careworks, that the allocated worker is identified on Careworks and that the review due date (3 months from the panel date) is on the referral page of Careworks. Link 1a admin. will put the paperwork in a file.
• Project Workers must ensure that a young person is seen within 5 days of the contract being signed.
• Three weeks before a Review/Final Panel is due, the project worker will notify admin. A Final Panel meeting must be called during the last month of the Order.

Assessments

• Assessments by ‘specialist’ workers will be conducted in the first 2 weeks of the Referral Order.
• Project workers and specialist workers will either liaise in the fortnightly Referral Order Review Meetings or individually about the frequency, dates and times of further meetings.
• For reparation, young people will be included on the Reparation calendar and advised of the date, time and location. 
• Young people and their parents will be informed by letter of all future appointments.
• If a young person fails to attend and does not contact the office, the specialist worker should enter a FTA on Careworks and should send an email to the project worker informing that the young person failed to attend. (It is then up to the project worker to decide if the absence is acceptable or unacceptable). The specialist should contact the young person to establish why s/he has failed to attend but should not provide them directly with a follow up appointment.
• If a young person calls a specialist worker in advance to reschedule an appointment, it is at the specialist’s discretion whether they are prepared to reschedule, and if so the appointment should be rescheduled for that same week and entered on Careworks.
• ALL APPOINTMENTS WITH SPECIALISTS SHOULD BE CLASSED AS STATUTORY AND THIS SHOULD BE MADE CLEAR TO THE YOUNG PERSON.
• All appointments should be entered on Careworks in advance so that the project worker is aware of a young person’s commitments.

Programmes

• Programmes should be developed which address the risk factors associated with the offending behaviour. This is not necessarily the same as meeting all identified needs; in some cases referrals to other agencies may be appropriate to address these.
• The minimum contact requirement under National Standards is once per fortnight by any member of staff, dropping to once a month at the half way stage. Contacts will reduce to once per month with the case-holder at the half way stage only if the young person has completed key elements of their contract.
• At the young person’s first meeting with the case-holder the terms of the Panel contract will be reviewed to ensure the young person understands the various elements. The young person will also be required to sign an additional agreement which details our expectations of their behaviour and the consequences if they fail to comply or cooperate – as well as what they can expect from us in terms of a service. 

Stage 8: Breach

National Standards are:

A missed appointment to be followed up with a contact within 24 hours If the project worker does not consider the reason given is acceptable then this missed appointment will result in a written warning being sent. A second missed appointment without acceptable excuse will be followed up in the same way with the additional instruction given to the young person that a further failure will result in the case being referred back to the Panel for a decision as to whether or not the case should be returned to court. As a broad rule of thumb an acceptable reason is one where the young person is:
	At court In a police station At an emergency doctor/hospital or dental appointment – adult confirmation will be sought Illness - where medical certificate is supplied or the doctor is prepared to confirm over the phone – the YOS will pay where there is a charge Bereavement Unplanned school/employment commitment
In all cases the young person is expected to contact the worker beforehand - a consistent and quick response to missed appointments must be taken by all Referral Order staff. Where the young person has triggered a return to Panel, the project worker will advise the RO Panel coordinator and the administrative officer who will book this emergency panel meeting and organise for Panel Members to attend.  The admin. officer will send a standard letter regarding the breach Panel meeting to the young person/carer.  A letter will be sent to the young person and carer confirming the date, time and venue. The details will be recorded on the groupwise calendar. The emergency Panel must take place within 10 days of the missed appointment. The young person should continue to attend previously scheduled appointments in the meantime. Their attendance at these appointments will assist the Panel in their assessment of appropriate outcome. The project worker will complete the breach Panel report template. The information will include the original components of the contract, which elements have been completed, the missed appointments and the reasons given. There will be a section for additional comments in which the worker will put the case in some context, including the young person’s general attitude and cooperation whilst on the programme and their assessment of the likelihood of successful completion. The Panel will make their decision based on the pattern of attendance and compliance, the progress made to date and the young person’s attitude to continuing the order. Where the Panel decides upon a return to court, the report will have an additional section at the bottom in which the coordinator will enter the panel’s comments. This report will then be submitted to the court as the official breach report. The project worker will be responsible for all of the paperwork and processes regarding returning a breached Referral Order to Court. Any referral back to the Court must be no later than 10 working days after the panel meeting.  For more information see Referral Order Return to Court Procedure for detailed information regarding the process. Where a Referral Order is revoked by the court, Panel members must be informed within 10 working days (if they have indicated a wish to be kept informed).

Stage 9: Extensions

• Project workers will routinely check Careworks to see if their clients face any new matters.
• Where a young person has additional matters in court, the court officer will discuss with the project worker the feasibility of extending the Referral Order where circumstances permit. The project worker, in making their recommendation should consider:
• How long the order has been operating
• Its impact/ progress made
• Prognosis for successful completion
• Young person’s attitude to the programme – as demonstrated by their compliance and cooperation
• Pattern of attendance or non-attendance to date
• If a young person has their Referral Order revoked by the court, the Operational Manager and any other staff that may have been working with the young person will be notified

Stage 10: Quarterly Returns

• All staff to ensure that they check the appropriate fields have been completed on Careworks to ensure that the returns accurately reflect the work undertaken and the achievements made in meeting needs.

Stage 11: Closure

• Project workers to complete check list and attach to the back of the file on completion of the Referral Order.

Stage 12: Fortnightly Referral Order Review Meetings

• Referral Order workers and specialists will be expected to attend these meetings every other Tuesday at 9.30am.
• Appointments will be agreed, cases discussed, reviews and finals agreed and any other Referral Order matters will be discussed.

End