Children First (adult)
A restorative and trauma-informed approach to children and young people in the criminal justice system.
Children First: A restorative and trauma-informed approach to children and young people in the criminal justice system
Children First is Gloucestershire’s Youth Deferred Prosecution Scheme, supporting children and young people to make changes in their lives to prevent further offending. Children First deal with certain crimes committed by children/young people without having to go to court.
In Gloucestershire we want to give children and young people the opportunity to avoid having a criminal record where possible. This is because we want young people to have the best possible chance of achieving their full potential and becoming productive adults. We recognise that children/young people make mistakes and do not want these to have an adverse impact on their future.
Children First is a restorative scheme and is working towards becoming trauma-informed and ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) aware.
As a restorative and trauma-informed scheme Children First strives to:
- Work within the principles of providing both challenge and support
- Address issues that arise in an open and collective way
- Encourage members to take responsibility for the way they work
- Promote restorative practice
- Ensure everyone has a voice and is heard
- Be inclusive, involving everyone in decision making
- Ensure physical and emotional safety for all
- Enable individual choice and control
- Make decisions with people not for them
- Be trustworthy and consistent
- Prioritize empowerment and skill building.
Wherever possible the Children First offer to children/young people will be based on restorative practice. This may include direct restorative work involving the harmed and the harmer, or simply ensure that restorative practice is at the heart of other work undertaken with the child/young person when the offence does not involve a victim or the harmed person chooses to decline the opportunity to be involved.
A key part of our efforts are focused on enabling and encouraging children to understand the affect and impact of their choices and behaviours. As a deferred prosecution scheme, if the child is unable to engage in the offer, and the Children First Partnership decide there has been no benefit, a formal disposal may then be issued.
Victims/People harmed
Any victim/harmed person will be invited wherever possible to share
their experience and how it has affected them, helping everyone to
understand better the impact of the crime. Victims/those harmed
will be advised on their options for possible involvement, particularly
in relation to restorative interventions, and can decide for themselves
the extent to which they would like to be involved, and how much they
would like to be kept informed.
Joint Decision Panel (JDP)
When a child or young person has committed an eligible crime, has
accepted responsibility for the crime, and there is enough evidence
to prosecute, it can be discussed at the Joint Decision Panel (JDP).
The JDP will review information from the Police, Youth Support
Team (YST), Social Care, Education, Victim Services, Restorative
Gloucestershire (RG) and Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Services (CAMHS).
Panel members will look at details of the offence, information about
the victim’s experience, and the child/young person’s circumstances
and history, to make a decision on the best outcome in each case. The
options available to the JDP are:
1. Children First pathway/Restorative Justice Level 1/Community Resolution
- This means the child/young person does not have a criminal record but a record will remain on the local police computer and should they stay out of trouble in the future it is unlikely that this will appear on an enhanced DBS check (but not impossible, please see suggestions at the end for who to contact for more information if required).
- It means that the child/young person works with the Youth Support Team and/or Restorative Gloucestershire, or any other service deemed appropriate, to make sure that this does not happen again. This could be: a drug and substance misuse program, behaviour and anger management support, restorative work with or for the victim, victim impact awareness work, or an activity to give back to the community. The pathway can be tailored to the nature of the offence and the needs of the young person and victim (if relevant).
- The child/young person does not have to engage, but if they don’t the crime will be taken back to the JDP and another option on this list will be chosen.
- All Children First pathways will have a compulsory component and restorative interventions are the preferred option for this. However it is recognised that this is not always possible or suitable. In these cases the compulsory component will be about reducing the risk of the young person getting in to trouble with the police again, including exploring their wider support needs.
2. Youth Conditional Caution
A youth conditional caution is a youth caution with conditions attached to it, it will also mean the young person has a criminal record. If the conditions are not completed the police could decide to charge the child and they would go to court. The Youth Support Team recommends conditions that will reduce the likelihood of re-offending or repair the damage done. Examples include support to meaningfully apologise, and/or doing some work around why the offence took place.
3. Charge
If the JDP decide that the offence is more serious or if opportunities to take part in the Children First pathway or Youth Conditional Cautions have not been taken up by the child/young person, then the police can take someone to court. They will charge the child or young person with an offence and they will be given a date on which to attend court. It is then up to the court to decide what the outcome will be and will likely also result in a criminal record.
4. NFA
If the JDP decide there is not enough evidence to charge a person with an offence, or to pursue it would not be in the public interest, they will take no further action (NFA). The outcome of the case is recorded as ‘NFA’ on the local police UNIFI system, and if the child has been through custody, also on the police national computer (PNC).
Please note, an offence may not be dealt with by the JDP if it can instead be dealt with an earlier stage as an RJ Level 1/Community Resolution (arranged by the attending officer where appropriate), or if No Further Action (NFA) is taken prior to any further investigation, statement or interview. In these circumstances, RJ Level 1, Community Resolution and NFA outcomes will be recorded on the local police internal UNIFI system, and NFAs will be recorded on the National PNC database if the child/young person has been through custody. Although such cases will not be referred to JDP, a referral may be made to support services for the young person if required.
Criminal Records
When the police suspect someone has committed a crime, they will interview them as part of their investigation. This interview can have serious consequences. If a child or young person is arrested or asked to attend a police station as a volunteer, they have the right to speak to an independent solicitor free of charge. This can be arranged before the interview or by asking for the duty solicitor.
In some situations, a child/young person might need to tell people about the offence in the future. This might be when applying for a job, applying to go to college or university, or when they want to go abroad to some countries. Youth cautions, youth conditional cautions are part of a person’s criminal record. However, usually there is no need to tell an employer about them, because Youth Cautions are finished - or “spent” - as soon as they are given, and Youth Conditional Cautions are ‘spent’ after three months.
For some jobs however, the employer will do an enhanced criminal records check, and any Youth Cautions will appear, unless it was a Youth Caution for a less serious offence (like shoplifting), which are no longer disclosed after 2 years (this is called filtering).
The Government plans to change the criminal records disclosure rules. No
date has been decided yet. Find out more.
It is really important to make sure the information the police have recorded
is accurate. Anyone can request access to their police records:
Request information about you held on the Police National Computer (PNC)
Request information about you held on the local Police Computer (UNIFI).