Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland :: A Day In The Life Of A Co-ordinator

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A Day In The Life Of A Co-ordinator

By Alison McClay

Youth Conferencing has been available to the Youth Courts and the Public Prosecution Service in Fermanagh & Tyrone since April 2004. The Youth Conference Service is part of the Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland. It works upon the principles of restorative justice, that is, a process whereby all parties with a stake in a particular offence come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future. The Youth Conference Service aims to balance the needs of the victim and the young person by agreeing plans of action which satisfy the victim and create opportunities for the young person to make amends and stop offending.

Today I attended Strabane Youth Court in the morning, and in the afternoon met with a young person to prepare them for their youth conference.

At Strabane court I submitted two conference reports. As author of these reports I am expected to attend court to address them and any queries the Resident Magistrate may have about the youth conference process in general.

The reports were about two conferences I had convened the previous week. These involved a number of public order and shoplifting offences committed by one young female. The reports summarised the content of the conferences, how the young person participated and the level of regret and victim empathy they displayed, and input from the victim. The conferences were successful, with the young person making a good contribution and showing awareness of how her behaviour affected the victims; in this case shop-keepers and police officers.

Conference participants agree a conference plan, the aim of which is to satisfy the victim and to enable the young person to make amends for her offending behaviour and reduce the likelihood of re-offending.

The conference plan is included in the youth conference report and, if the court considers the plan to be appropriate and proportionate to the offences, a Youth Conference Order is made. The youth conference plan on this occasion included the following actions for the young person to undertake:

To attend a local counselling service to address her misuse of alcohol and its impact upon her behaviour;
To repay £10 to the shop owner for the stolen goods;
To write a letter of apology to the shop-keeper and staff affected by her offences;
Not to enter or be in the vicinity of the shop where the offence occurred for a period of six months.

The first three actions will be completed within three months, and all actions will be monitored by the Youth Conference Service.

Given the area covered by the rural team the Co-ordinators spend much of their time travelling to visits, conferences and courts in a number of locations.

In the afternoon I had an appointment at the Lakewood Centre, Bangor, the regional Secure Care facility. The purpose was to meet with a young person who had been referred to the Youth Conference Service by Enniskillen Youth Court.

This is my second visit to this young person in preparing her for the youth conference. In my first meeting with her, whilst she consented to take part in the conference and meet the victim, I had some concerns about her level of empathy for the victim and understanding of the harm caused. I have therefore arranged a second visit to assess her readiness for the conference and her level of motivation to meet the victim. I spent time with the young person addressing victim issues and encouraging her to consider the impact of her behaviour on others.

‘ A victim will only be contacted and invited to attend a conference if the co-ordinator deems the conference setting to be a safe environment for the victim, where their voice will be heard, and where there is no risk of them being re-victimised. Whilst thorough preparation work with young people, families and victims is essential, co-ordinators have to work within a tight time-frame, with four weeks to convene a Court-ordered conference, agree a Conference Plan and prepare a report to return to court.’