Lancashire Child & Youth Justice Service

Referral Order Panel Member - Fleetwood

Overview

Any member of our community can become a Referral Order Panel Member.  Being a panel member involves attending a Referral Order Panel at your local Youth Offending Team. A panel meeting takes place after a young person has committed an offence, has been to court for the first time and pleaded guilty. The panel brings together the young person who has committed the offence, their parents/carers and depending on their choice, the victim to discuss what has happened.

Tasks

It is the responsibility of the panel members to play an active role in determining what work is required of that young person to avoid further offending and to make amends for the offence. This will involve reading documentation relating to the young people attending panel that evening. Formulating ideas with your fellow panel members on how to address any problems which seem to be leading to their offending behaviour and communicating those to the young people, their parents/carers and, depending on their choice, the victims.

Essential Skills and Qualities:

• Good time management
• Good reading and writing skills
• A flexible approach
• A person-centred approach
• Questioning and listening skills
• Confidence
• An open mind
• Calm
• Work as part of a team
• Punctuality
• Commitment
• Reliability
• Non-Judgmental Approach
• Adaptability
• Support
• Empathy
• Maintaining confidentiality

Desirable Skills and Qualities

• Facilitation
• Mediation
• Self Reflection
• Creativity
• An ability to see the overall picture

Desirable Knowledge and Understanding

Knowledge of...

• The Youth Justice System
• Referral Orders (RO)
• Referral Order Panels
• Restorative Justice
• Safeguarding
• Different roles within LYOT
• Current factors impacting on young people
• YOT interventions available for young people

Understanding of...

• The requirements of young people at LYOT
• Local Community Issues
• Local Government
• The necessity to attend ongoing training
•  SMART (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound)

An enhanced DBS is also essential for this role (at no cost to the volunteer)

Training

Please be advised that training to join LYOT as a Referral Order Panel Member will require a commitment to an induction training process. The induction training will take place over 2 evenings at your local base and 1 Full Saturday at County Hall, Preston. To support and strengthen your induction training, you will need to complete a number of e-learning modules through the 'Youth Justice Interactive Learning Space' (YJILS) and the Lancashire's Children and Young People's Trust. Unfortunately, you will not be able to begin volunteering with us without first completing all the necessary aspects of the induction process, including the e-learning.