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Increasing research evidence highlights the importance of recognising a person's learning disability early in their journey through the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and highlights the need for liaison and diversion schemes.

Karina Hepworth, (Senior Nurse Specialist, Learning Disability, Kirklees Youth Offending Team, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Huddersfield, UK) has produced this practice paper which seeks to raise awareness of the importance of mental capacity and its alignment (or lack there of) with the issue of fitness to plead. Click here to see a Word version.

This work was first published Journal of Learning Disabilities & Offending Behaviour (JLDOB) - www.emeraldinsight.com

At least 60% of young people in the youth justice system have communication needs. That could mean that over half of the young people you work with do not understand what people say to them or find it difficult to get their message across. The Communication Trust website can help you:

Find out what communication needs are
View examples of what these needs may look like
Gain advice to support you in your work
Download resources

Inspection Summary
Kirklees Youth Offending Team was inspected in October 2010. Click here to see a summary of the findings and report published after the inspection.

Restorative Justice?
Restorative Justice is a way of looking at the harm caused by crime. It offers those who have suffered harm the opportunity to have their harm or loss recognised. It encourages those who have caused harm to recognise the impact of what they have done, and begin to take
responsibility for their actions. - see our new section on RJ here

Summer Arts College 2010
Kirklees Youth Offending Team’s third annual Summer Arts College which was held in July and August 2010 exceeded all expectations in terms of the students’ personal development, self belief and artistic and academic achievements - see more here

Sentence Trouble
At least 60% of young people in the youth justice system have communication needs. That could mean that over half of the young people you work with do not understand what people say to them or find it difficult to get their message across. The Communication Trust website at - http://www.sentencetrouble.info/ - can help you:

Find out what communication needs are
View examples of what these needs may look like
Gain advice to support you in your work
Download resources

Partnership Work with National Trust
The YOT has recently worked with National Trust to complete reparation projects on Marsden Moor. Click here to see the article that appeared in the NT members magazine.

This project has also been featured in an article in the Yorkshire Post (19 March, 2010) - read the article here.

Pathways to Adulthood

A group of young Asian men have spent the last three months working on a short film which was launched in Dewsbury yesterday.

The primary aim of the film project, and other schemes, is to support vulnerable individuals who may be targeted or recruited to violent extremism.

Organisers say it will also help to support mainstream voices in the community and challenge violent extremist ideology.

Click here to see more

'YOT's Health Advisor features in Safeguarding Newsletter

Gill Addy, Health Advisor with Kirklees Youth Offending Team recently had an article published in the Kirklees NHS Safeguarding newsletter. Safeguarding Children is an important aspect of the work that is offered by health workers in the YOT. The Kirklees YOT health team consists of two public health nurses and one learning disability nurse, who all work closely with YOT Officers and other specialist members of the team. The children working with the Youth Offending team are very vulnerable to many types of abuse, including sexual exploitation - see more here, page 3 of the newsletter.

Kirklees YOT helps celebrate Youth Court's Centenary

The centenary of the establishment of Youth Courts in England and Wales was celebrated by an exhibition in Dewsbury and an event at Huddersfield Youth Courts in May 2009.

Youth Courts were established by the Children Act of 1908 which
determined that from April 1909 young offenders’ hearing should be
held in a separate building or sit at different times to adult hearings
and that public access should be restricted.

Richard Smith, Kirklees Youth Offending Team Manager said “Through searching local newspapers from April 1909 - March 1910 for juvenile cases and extensive archive research we have produced the exhibition. If local journalists had not had access to the courts then we would know little about youth courts at the time." - see more here

Expression of Regret

A young person working with Kirklees YOT wrote a very passionate and genuine expression of remorse and regret about the offence he committed. The young person describes his emotions towards the victim, his family and friends. - Read it here.

Ireti FC in the news!

Taken from Huddersfield Examiner - July 2007

Busy Ramsden gets top Award from FA

Kevin Ramsden has been given a top award from the FA. Ramsden is manager of District League side Ireti FC – made up of young offenders – and has received a Football Workforce County FA award in recognition of a significant contribution to football.

Ramsden was with the club when they entered the League in 2001-03 and, in the ensuing five years, he has managed them in 108 games of which they’ve drawn only one. Their other six points gained over that period have been for opposition not fulfilling matches.

Over the five years, Ireti have scored 119 goals but conceded 825. This provides an average of every match being lost 8-1.

Richard Smith, the Youth Offending Service Manager in Kirklees, said: “These lads learn so much from their coach (Kevin) and his colleagues, it goes much further than football.

“They learn about controlling their temper, working as a member of a team, responsibility and routine. The coach is rarely able to put out the same tea as these youngsters are in chaotic homes and he can count on both hands the number of parents who have attended a game over five seasons.

“I believe they have been a credit to him during the past seasons and he, in turn, is a credit to the West Yorkshire police and Youth Offending Team.”