Referred to the Reporter?
You might receive a letter from the Reporter if there are concerns about you.
What is a referral?
A referral is when information about a child or young person is given to the Reporter by someone who is worried about them, and thinks they might need a Compulsory Supervision Order. For example, this could be the police, school or social work department.
The reasons why someone might be worried about a child or young person include if they think the child or young person is not being looked after properly or is at risk of harm from someone, or if the child or young person’s behaviour is causing concern.
If I have been referred what happens next?
The Reporter usually writes to a child or young person to tell them they have been referred. Your parents or carers will also get a similar letter. It will explain why you have been referred to the Reporter.
The Reporter might ask for some more information about you and your family, usually from your school and the social work department. The letter will tell you if the Reporter is asking for more information and who they are asking for it from. Once the Reporter has enough information they will make a decision about you.
What decisions can the Reporter make?
- Not to arrange a Children’s Hearing for you.
- If they decide not to arrange a Children’s Hearing, they can ask social workers to arrange some extra help for you and your family.
- To arrange a Children’s Hearing for you.
The Reporter will only arrange a Children’s Hearing for you if they think:
- You need some extra support,
- This extra support needs to be done through a Compulsory Supervision Order, AND
- One of the legal reasons for arranging a Hearing applies.
What is a Compulsory Supervision Order?
A Compulsory Supervision Order is a legal order that means a child or young person must be involved with social work. The order says what must happen. This can include things that the child or young person must do and things that the social worker must arrange.
What are the legal reasons for arranging a Children’s Hearing?
The law sets out the reasons for arranging a Hearing. They are called ‘grounds’. The grounds include that a child or young person:
- is not being looked after properly by their parents or carers
- has been the victim of certain offences, or another child in their family has been
- is likely to be harmed by someone else’s behaviour
- has a close connection to someone who has committed domestic abuse
- is likely to cause harm to themself or someone else
- has committed an offence
- has not attended school regularly
- has misused alcohol or drugs.
You can see the full list of grounds.
The Reporter will decide whether they think there is evidence that any of these grounds applies.
Do I get to say what I think?
Yes. You have the right to give your views to the Reporter about what decision you think the Reporter should make. If you give your views, the reporter must take them into account. If you have received a letter, it will tell you the latest day for you to give your views to the Reporter.
You can give your views in different ways. You can choose the one or ones you prefer.
- Phone
- Write a letter
- Meet with the Reporter
- Use this form
- Give your views to someone else for them to pass on to the Reporter
If you choose to give your views to someone else, they could be a parent or other person who looks after you, a social worker, an advocacy worker, a lawyer, or someone else.
More information about advocacy support is available here.
If you need help getting a lawyer, more information is available here.
What happens when the Reporter makes their decision?
The Reporter will usually write to you to tell you their decision.
If you are not happy with the Reporter’s decision, you can speak with the Reporter about it. You can also decide to make a complaint. You can get more information about how to make a complaint here.
If the Reporter decides to arrange a Children’s Hearing for you, you will be sent information about the Children’s Hearing. You will get the chance to give your views to the Children’s Hearing about how things are for you and what you would like to happen.