Information on youth rehabilitation orders
What is a Youth Rehabilitation Order ?
A Youth Rehabilitation Order is a community sentence used for young people who offend.
Introduced by the Criminal Justice and immigration Act 2008 the Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) came into effect on 30 November 2009. It is the standard community sentence used for a large proportion of young people who offend unless they receive a Referral Order or a custodial sentence.
Length
The YRO takes effect on the day that it is made and can run for up to three years. The YRO lasts until the end of the longest requirement. Some requirements might have shorter timescales and finish before the end of the YRO. There is no minimum length although in practice Orders shorter than three months are rarely made.
How it works
To sentence a young person to a YRO the court must consider the offence serious enough to warrant a community sentence and the restriction of liberty imposed through the order on the young person must be commensurate with the seriousness of the offence. Before making a YRO the court should consider a Pre Sentence Report prepared by the Youth Offending Service (YOS) to help establish an appropriate balance between the seriousness of the offence, the risk of harm the young person might present in the future and the needs of the young person. The court then sets the requirements and the overall length of the Order. If more than one requirement is attached to the YRO the court must ensure that they are compatible with each other. This approach gives the court great flexibility to sentence in a way that protects the public and meets the needs of the young person. The young person must then meet regularly with members of the YOS or our partners to complete the order of the court.
The Requirements
The following are requirements that can be made if you are on a YRO:
Activity Requirement
Requires the young person to take part in a specific activity for up to a total of 90 days. This requirement can include an activity whose purpose is reparation and might include a face to face meeting with the person or persons affected by the offence.
Attendance Centre Requirement
Requires the young person to attend and take part in activities at the Attendance Centre for a specified number of hours.
Curfew Requirement
Requires the young person to stay in a specified place between specified hours. The curfew period cannot be for less than 2 hours, or more than 12 hours, in any 24 hour period. The maximum duration is for 6 months starting on the day that the order is made and the order can specify different periods of curfew on different days. This requirement is imposed in conjunction with a requirement for electronic monitoring unless there is a reason not to do this.
Drug Testing Requirement
Requires the young person to comply with drug testing that will show whether they have used drugs or not. It can only be imposed when the court has also imposed a drug treatment requirement.
Drug Treatment Requirement
Requires the young person to agree to drug treatment for the period specified in the order. The aim of this requirement is to reduce or eliminate the young person’s dependency on, or misuse of, drugs where this has been identified as a problem.
Education Requirement
Requires a young person of compulsory school age to comply with approved education arrangements.
Electronic Monitoring Requirement
Requires the young person to comply with arrangements for the electronic monitoring of the curfew period set by the court.
Exclusion Requirement
Prohibits the young person from entering a place specified in the order for a specific period. The specified period must not be longer than three months.
Intoxicating Substance Treatment Requirement
Requires the young person to agree to intoxicating substance treatment for the period specified in the order. The aim of this requirement is to reduce or eliminate the young person’s dependency on, or misuse of, intoxicating substances where this has been identified as a problem. This requirement provides for a broader range of treatment options than the drug treatment requirement.
Local Authority Residence Requirement
Requires the young person to live in suitable accommodation provided by or on behalf of the local authority specified in the order. The requirement must not exceed 6 months and it must not include any period after the young person has reached the age of 18.
Mental health Treatment Requirement
Requires the young person to agree to treatment by an appropriate registered medical practitioner with a view to improving their mental condition where a link between their mental health and their offending has been identified.
Programme Requirement
Requires the young person to engage in a set of activities (a programme) at a specified place on a specified number of days.
Prohibited Activity Requirement
Requires the young person NOT to participate in activities as specified in the order for a specified period of time.
Residence Requirement
Requires the young person, who must be 16 or over at the time of conviction, to live with a specified person or at a specified place.
Supervision Requirement
Requires the young person to meet with the responsible officer from the Youth Offending Team (YOT) or other people as nominated by the YOT. When included this requirement remains in force for the duration of the YRO.
Unpaid Work Requirement
Requires the young person to complete a specified number of hours of unpaid work. The young person must be aged 16 or 17 at the time of their conviction. The hours must be not less than 40 and not more than 240.
YRO with Intensive Fostering
Requires the young person to engage with intensive fostering as an alternative to a custodial sentence. It would be used where the young person would otherwise be given a custodial sentence and where their normal living arrangements are thought to contribute to their offending behaviour. This requirement is not currently available in Dorset.
can be attached to any YRO imposed in court. They have been designed to provide a variety of options for punishment, protection of the public, reducing reoffending, reparation and rehabilitation.