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ACTIVITY 1: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S HEARINGS SYSTEM?
Are the following statements true or false? Circle your
answer.
1. The Children's Hearings system helps children and
young people who are vulnerable.
True or False?
2. An official known as the Children's Reporter is the
first point of contact in the Children's Hearings system.
True or False?
3. Anyone can contact the Children's Reporter if they
are concerned about a child/young person's circumstances.
True or False?
4. The Children's Reporter will always arrange a
Children's Hearing for any child/young person they are
contacted about.
True or False?
5. A child/young person will only get involved in the
Children's Hearings system if they have committed an
offence.
True or False?
6. The panel members who make the decision at a
Children's Hearing are employed by the local authority.
True or False?
7. Children's Hearings are very formal and take place in
court.
True or False?
8. The panel members leave the room to make their
decision and return to tell the child/young person and
his/her family what they have decided.
True or False?
9. A Supervision Requirement always means that a
child/young person cannot stay at home with their family.
True or False?
10. A Supervision Requirement stays in place until the
child/young person is 18 years old.
True or False?
ANSWER SHEET
1.
True
The Children's Hearings system is
Scotland's unique system of combining welfare and justice
for vulnerable and troubled children and young people from
birth to 17.
2.
True
The Children's Reporter is often referred
to as the 'gatekeeper' of the system. He/she will
investigate any referrals about children and young people
that he/she receives and will decide what to do next.
3.
True
Most referrals to the Children's Reporter
are made by the police or social workers, but anyone can
speak to the Children's Reporter if they are worried about
a child/young person. A child/young person can contact the
Children's Reporter themselves, although this rarely
happens.
4.
False
The Children's Reporter investigates the
child/young person's case by asking for
information from different sources, for example from
social workers, police, schools, and health and voluntary
organisations. He/she evaluates the information and decides
whether to take no further formal action, refer the
child/young person and family for voluntary support from
the local authority or to arrange a Children's Hearing.
5.
False
The child/young person may be the victim of
a crime, may not have been going to school or someone, for
example a neighbour or a relative, may be worried that
he/she is not being looked after properly.
6.
False
The panel members are volunteers from the
local community. They come from a variety of backgrounds
and most have full-time jobs.
7.
False
Children's Hearings take place in a local
Children's Hearings Centre and the style and setting of the
Hearing is relatively informal, with everyone usually
sitting around the same table, to encourage everyone to
take part in the discussion.
8.
False
The three panel members make their decision
in front of everyone present and they have to explain why
they have made that decision. It need not be unanimous.
9.
False
A Supervision Requirement is a plan of
work, support and services to help the child/young person
and their family. This means that the child/young person
and their family will have to work with professionals such
as a social worker. Usually the child/young person remains
at home. But the Supervision Requirement can include a
condition about where a child/young person can live,
if for any reason the panel
members think that it is in his/her best interests
to live away from home for some time.
10.
False
A Supervision Requirement will only last
for as long as it is needed, but it must be reviewed within
a year at another Children's Hearing.
INFORMATION SHEET 1: AN OVERVIEW
OF THE CHILDREN'S HEARINGS SYSTEM
What is the Children's Hearings system?
The Children's Hearings system in Scotland is a unique
system combining welfare and justice for vulnerable and
troubled children and young people from birth to 17.
These children are experiencing, or are at risk of, for
example:
- being abused
- being out of the control of their parents
or carers
- offending
- not going to school
- taking drugs or alcohol
- their parents not looking after them
properly.
How did the Children's Hearings system
start?
It started over 30 years ago from the work of Lord
Kilbrandon, who found that whether children or young people
had offended or been offended against, they all had the
same needs. He thought that in taking decisions about their
future, the best interests of the child/young person were
most important.
The key stages of the Children's Hearings
process:
There are four key stages:
- The Referral
- The Investigation
- The Hearing
- The Outcome.
The Referral
Something has to happen in the child/young person's life
to start the process. This can be one incident or a number
of concerns. For example:
- they may be the victim of a crime
- they may have committed a crime
- they may not have been going to
school
- someone may be worried that they are not
being looked after properly.
The police, social work department or education
department will usually raise their concerns with the
Children's Reporter. This is known as a referral. Anyone
can speak to the Children's Reporter if they are worried
about a child/young person, and a child/young person can
contact the Children's Reporter themselves.
The Investigation
The Children's Reporter investigates the child/young
person's case by asking for
information from different sources - for example
from the social work department, police, schools, or health
and voluntary organisations. He/she evaluates the
information and decides either:
- not to arrange a Children's
Hearing
- to refer the child/young person and family
for voluntary support from the local
authority
- to arrange a Children's Hearing.
The Hearing
At each Children's Hearing there is the child/young
person and his/her family or carer, the Children's
Reporter, the three panel members, a social worker and
perhaps a teacher.
The setting is not too formal and usually everyone sits
around the same table to encourage everyone to take part in
the discussion. The Hearing takes place in private and will
usually last between 45 minutes and an hour.
The decision that the panel members make must be
followed. If the child/young person and his/her family do
not agree with the decision, they can appeal against it in
the Sheriff Court.
The Outcomes
The Hearing has several decisions it can choose from.
The main ones are:
- to discharge the referral because the panel
members feel that compulsory supervision is not
needed
- to impose a Supervision Requirement on a
child/young person, with any conditions the panel
members think are necessary
- if the grounds for referral are not
accepted, or the child cannot understand because of
their age or ability, to send the case to the
Sheriff Court for the Sheriff to decide if the
reasons for the hearing are justified
- to continue the Hearing (hold it at a later
date) if the Hearing is unable to make a decision.
This might be because someone did not turn up or
because the Hearing needs more information to make
an informed decision.
The most common decision of a Children's Hearing is to
impose a Supervision Requirement. This is a plan of work,
support and services to help the child/young person. What
is in this plan depends on the reasons why the child/young
person is at the Hearing. This means that the child/young
person and their family will have to work along with
professionals such as a social worker.
The Supervision Requirement will last for as long as it
is needed, but it must be reviewed within a year at another
Children's Hearing.
Word check
vulnerable = defenceless, may be
physically or emotionally hurt
at risk = in a dangerous situation
abused = being hurt by someone in some way
offending = breaking the law
carers = other adults who look after a
child/young person instead of their parents
gatekeeper = someone who controls the
access to a resource
refer = to ask someone to look into
something - in this case to tell the Reporter about a
child/young person
incident = something that happens that
might have a serious effect
victim = a person who has been harmed in
some way by someone else
INFORMATION SHEET 1A: AN
OVERVIEW OF THE CHILDREN'S HEARINGS SYSTEM
What is the Children's Hearings system?
The Children's Hearings system helps children and young
people under the age of 18 who are vulnerable. They are
experiencing, or are at risk of, for example:
- being abused
- being out of the control of their parents
or carers
- offending
- not going to school
- taking drugs or alcohol
- their parents not looking after them
properly.
Word check
vulnerable = defenceless, may be
physically or emotionally hurt
at risk = in a dangerous situation
abused = being hurt by someone in some way
offending = breaking the law
The key stages of the Children's Hearings
process:
There are four key stages:
- The Referral
- The Investigation
- The Hearing
- The Outcome.
The Referral
An incident or some concerns in a child/young person's
life start the Children's Hearings process:
- they may be a victim of a crime or have
offended
- they may not have been going to school for
a long time
- someone may be worried that they are not
being looked after properly.
The police or social work or education department will
usually tell the Children's Reporter what has happened.
This is known as a referral. Anyone can speak to the
Children's Reporter if they are worried about a child/young
person, and a child/young person can contact the Children's
Reporter themselves.
Word check
incident = something that happens that
might have a serious effect
victim = a person who has been harmed in
some way by someone else
The Investigation
Once the Children's Reporter has been told about a
child/young person, it is his/her job to decide what should
happen next. He/she will ask for information from different
people:
- social worker
- schools
- police
- health worker.
The Children's Reporter looks at all of the information
and has three decisions to choose from:
- not to arrange a Children's Hearing,
although he/she will often warn the child/young
person and their family that any other referrals
from now on may lead to formal action being
taken
- refer the child and family for voluntary
support from the local authority
- arrange a Children's Hearing.
Word check
investigation = a careful look at
everything in detail
health worker = someone who cares for
people's health, for example a doctor, nurse or health
visitor
formal action = legal action - in this
case arranging a Children's Hearing
voluntary = choosing to do something
support = help
local authority = the local council
The Hearing
A Children's Hearing can only take place if the
child/young person and their family agree with the reasons
why the Children's Reporter has arranged it.
At the Hearing, three people called panel members will
make the decision about what should happen next.
Usually everyone sits around the same table to discuss
the issues. The Hearing will usually take between 45
minutes and an hour.
The decision that the panel members make has to be
followed, but if the child/young person or the family don't
agree with it, they can ask a Sheriff to look at it in
court to try to change the decision.
Word check
Children's Hearing = a special meeting
arranged to discuss the situation and decide what should
happen to the child/young person
Sheriff = the name given to the judge in
the Sheriff Court
The Outcome
The Hearing has several decisions it can choose from.
The main ones are:
- to discharge the referral because the panel
members feel that compulsory supervision is not
needed
- to put in place a Supervision Requirement
on a child/young person, with any conditions that
the panel members think are needed
- if the child/young person or their family
does not agree with the reasons for the Children's
Hearing or if the child cannot understand the
reasons for the Hearing, the panel members will ask
the Sheriff Court to decide whether the reasons are
correct
- to hold the Hearing at a later date to get
more information to help the panel members to make
a decision (this is called 'continuing the
Hearing').
The most common decision of a Children's Hearing is a
Supervision Requirement. This means that the child/young
person will have to co-operate with people whose job it is
to help them and their family with their problems.
The Supervision Requirement might have some special
rules in it about where the child/young person must live or
who they can see. Most children on a Supervision
Requirement stay at home.
The Supervision Requirement will last for as long as it
is needed but it must be looked at again within a year.
Word check
co-operate = to work together
outcome = what happens as a result of the
hearing
Supervision Requirement = a plan of work
and support to help the child or young person
discharge the referral = decide not to
take things further
INFORMATION SHEET 2: Who works
in the Children's Hearings System?
A number of different people, both professionals and
volunteers, work in the Children's Hearings system.
The Children's Reporter is the
"gatekeeper" of the system. He/she will receive referrals
of children and young people who are in trouble and will
make investigations. The Reporter will then decide which
children/young people should attend a Children's Hearing
and will organise the Hearing. There are Children's
Reporters in every local authority area of Scotland.
The panel members are
volunteers from the local community who are of different
ages and have different skills and experience. A Children's
Hearing is made up of three panel members (at least one of
whom must be male and one female). Their role is to make
the decisions at the Children's Hearing that are in the
child/young person's best interests. All panel members are
chosen by interview and have many months of training which
helps them to carry out their role.
A social worker will
tell the Children's Reporter about any children or young
people that he/she is concerned about and write reports to
help the Reporter to decide whether there needs to be a
Children's Hearing. They will write a report for the panel
members and go to the Hearing to discuss this. If the
Hearing decides that compulsory measures of supervision are
necessary, it will impose a Supervision Requirement (a plan
of work, support and services to help the child/young
person). It is the local authority which employs the social
worker that is responsible for carrying this out.
A teacher may also
contact the Children's Reporter if he/she is concerned
about a child/young person. He/she will prepare a school
report for the Children's Hearing which will tell the panel
members about the child/young person's attendance, how they
are doing in different subjects and how they behave in
school. A teacher may go to the Children's Hearing to
discuss the report and highlight any worries that they may
have.
The Children's Hearing might appoint an
independent person called a
Safeguarder to look after the child/young
person's interests in the Hearing. He/she will write a
report for the Hearing and will be there to represent the
child/young person's best interests, although sometimes the
child/young person may not agree with what the Safeguarder
says.
A solicitor (lawyer)
might be appointed by a Hearing to help the child/young
person to take part in the Hearing. Also, if the Hearing is
discussing whether a young person should be sent to secure
accommodation (be temporarily held in locked facilities for
their own safety or the safety of others), the solicitor
will attend the Hearing. In both these cases the solicitor
is called the
Legal Representative.
INFORMATION SHEET 2A: Who works
in the Children's Hearings System?
The Children's
Reporter
If a parent or professional, like a teacher, health
worker or social worker or a neighbour or friend, is
worried about a child/young person, they will get in touch
with the Children's Reporter. This may be because they
think the child/young person is being neglected or abused
or is getting into a lot of trouble. It is the Children's
Reporter's job to find out what is happening and decide if
a child/young person should go to a Children's Hearing.
The panel members
Panel members live in the local area and volunteer to be
panel members. They have a lot of training which helps them
to do the job. Before the Hearing, panel members will read
all the reports that have been written about a child/young
person and think about the questions they would like to
ask. Three panel members sit on the Children's Hearing and
make the decision about what should happen to the
child/young person in the future.
The social
worker
The social worker will tell the Children's Reporter
about any children or young people that he/she is worried
about. He/she will write reports to help the Children's
Reporter decide whether there needs to be a Children's
Hearing. The social worker will write a report for the
panel members and go to the Hearing to discuss this. If the
Hearing decides that a Supervision Requirement is needed
the social worker will work with the child/young person and
their family to try to make things better.
The teacher
A teacher might contact the Children's Reporter if
he/she is worried that things are not good for a
child/young person at home, or if the child/young person is
not coming to school very often, or if when they do they
are tired or hungry, or their behaviour is really bad. A
teacher will write a report to help the Reporter to decide
whether to organise a Children's Hearing. A teacher will
also write a report for a Hearing and may go to the Hearing
to discuss the report and tell the panel members about any
worries that they may have.
The safeguarder
Sometimes, a Children's Hearing might ask a Safeguarder
to look after a child/young person's interests in the
Hearing. He/she is independent of everyone else involved in
the Hearing. Before the Hearing the Safeguarder will meet
with the child/young person and family, their teacher and a
social worker. This is so that he/she can write a report
for the panel members which explains the child/young
person's views and what their life is like, and suggest
what, in the Safeguarder's view, should happen in the
future.
The Legal
Representative
A solicitor (lawyer) will sometimes go to Children's
Hearings to speak for a child/young person if the case is
so complicated it might stop them being able to take part
in the Hearing. Also, if the Hearing is talking about
whether a young person should be sent to secure
accommodation (locked up for their own safety or the safety
of others), the solicitor will also go to the Hearing. In
both these cases the solicitor is called the 'Legal
Representative'.
INFORMATION SHEET 3: THE CHILDREN'S HEARINGS PROCESS - A
SUMMARY
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