Detention and Training Orders
What is a Detention Training Order (DTO)
It is a custodial sentence for 12-17 year olds. It combines detention with training and will be used for young people who commit a serious offence or commit a number of offences.
Half of the sentence will be spent in custody and the other half will be supervised by the Youth Offending Service (YOS) out in the community. There will be a lot of time spent on training and education to help young people stop offending when their sentence is finished.
What happens in Court?
You will be escorted to police cells and held there before you are taken to the detention and training centre. You will be told the name of the centre you will be going to and where it is.
- 12-14 year olds will usually go to a Secure Training Unit.
- 15-17 year olds will go to a Young Offender Institution.
How long will I be there?
The court will have sentenced you to between four months and two years. You will spend the first half at the detention and training centre. The second half will be supervised by the Youth Offending Service in the community
What about time spent on Remand?
Time on secure remand should already have been taken into account by the courts when deciding your sentence. This includes days spent in police custody.
There will be no more time taken off by the detention and training centre.
Can I appeal against the Sentence?
Yes, you can appeal. Your solicitor will deal with this. The detention and training centre will give you a special form or letter to send to your solicitor.
You should do this straight away because you only have 21 days to begin an appeal.
The court can give you a:
- Completely different sentence (perhaps supervision or community service)
- Shorter sentence
- Longer sentence
Will I have a Worker from my Home Area?
You will see a worker from the YOS regularly. They may be a probation officer, a social worker or another member of staff from the YOS. Together, you and they will review your progress.
If you are in care, you will keep that social worker too.
A few days after you arrive at the centre, there will be a planning meeting to decide on the kind of training you need to help you stop offending.
What is the Training about?
There will be practical targets set that you will have to meet and there will be regular review meetings.
You and your parents or carers will be involved. The kind of training might include help with:
- Controlling your anger
- Parenting or relationship difficulties
- Drugs or alcohol misuse
- Understanding the effect of crime on victims
- Education or getting into work.
You will be supervised by the YOS right until the end of your sentence. They will help you to carry on the efforts you started at the centre to stay out of trouble. You will have contact twice a week for the first three months, and then less often.
What about when I get out?
The rules about contact will be strictly applied to give you the help you need to stop offending. If you break the conditions of your supervision you can get a fine or three months back in custody.
If you re-offend during the period of supervision you may be recalled to custody for the rest of the sentence as well as any sentence you receive for the new offence.
Important Information
If you have just been sentenced to a Detention and Training Order, the following important information is for you.
Contact with parents, relatives or carers is encouraged and they can visit you regularly whilst you are at the detention and training centre.
You will be given details of visiting arrangements when you arrive at the centre.