SOVA Barnsley Youth Justice

	The main objectives of the SOVA Barnsley Youth Justice are to prevent offending whilst on bail, ensure better attendance at court, and offer a direct alternative to custodial remand... The main objectives of the SOVA Barnsley Youth Justice are to prevent offending whilst on bail, ensure better attendance at court, and offer a direct alternative to custodial remand. In this sense there are no numerical targets to achieve regarding participants, rather it is essential the service is offered to all young people who fit the criteria. However there are Key Performance Indicators (KPI�s) and National Standards as set by the YJB. � A bail officer will be available every weekday, Saturday morning and Bank Holiday. � All under 18�s are assessed by a bail officer using Bail ASSET (YJB tool) before being produced for court. � Young people placed on Bail Supervision programmes must receive a minimum of three contacts per week with a bail officer, volunteer mentor, or other agency. � Missed appointments must be followed up by a telephone call or home visit within 24 hours and followed up with a written warning if reasonable explanation is not provided. � Breach action must be taken in the event of a second missed appointment, the police informed and a Warrant Without Bail issued to return the young person to court. � All secure remands must have a remand planning meeting organised and attended by a member of the YOT within 5 working days. The numbers of young people coming through the courts can fluctuate and be dependent on other influences but the evidence of whether the scheme works can be captured by monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of each appearance. By keeping a close eye on fluctuating figures this can lead to being able to identify where improvements can be made so that the relevant agencies can be targeted to re-fresh promotion of the scheme i.e.: the Magistrates courts, Police, Defence Solicitors, Crown Prosecution Service. Being in attendance at meetings and offering evidence of outcomes can lead these agencies to have more confidence in the �community remand� option as opposed to custodial remand. There were no volunteer targets this year as the Service Level Agreement allowed just to maintain the existing volunteers and there was no extra funding to train new volunteers. Therefore the existing volunteer activity has been monitored and evaluated and the effects reflected in the 2007-2008 work plan. Representation Young People in the Community Contract Name: Barnsley Bail Supervision Scheme Funder: Barnsley MBC Youth Offending Team Barnsley - Crookes Street SOVA Barnsley Youth Justice BMBC Youth Offending Team Crookes Street Barnsley S70 6BX Tel: 01226 774 986   Mob: Fax: 01226 774 968 Email: [email protected]  Barnsley YOT Annual Report 09 - 10.pdf SOVA Barnsley Youth Justice 07-08.pdf The Operational Director for this project is Julia Stanley contactable at Sheffield Regional Office