WEST YORKSHIRE YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS
PUBLIC PROTECTION POLICY
JANUARY 2008
CONTENTS
1 MULTI-AGENCY PUBLIC PROTECTION ARRANGEMENTS (MAPPA)
2 IDENTIFICATION OF MAPPA CASES
3 KEY DEFINITIONS
4 IDENTIFICATION OF MAPPA CASES
5 REFERRAL TO MAPPA
6 LEVELS OF MAPPA MANAGEMENT
7 VISOR
8 MAPPA CASES – AWARENESS
9 EXIT FROM MAPPA
10 TRANSFER OF MAPPA CASES
11 DEFENSIBLE DECISIONS
12 SUMMARY OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOT STAFF
WEST YORKSHIRE YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS
PUBLIC PROTECTION POLICY
1 MULTI-AGENCY PUBLIC PROTECTION ARRANGEMENTS (MAPPA)
MAPPA were introduced under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 to meet the public’s need for protection from dangerous offenders. The Act created the “Responsible Authorities” which initially were the Police and Probation Service. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 strengthened these arrangements by making the Prison Service a “Responsible Authority” and placing a “duty to cooperate” on a range of local statutory services, including the Youth Offending Teams.
The four key functions of MAPPA are –
a) To identify offenders who are eligible for referral under MAPPA
b) To share relevant information with those agencies involved in the risk assessment.
c) To asses the risk of harm.
d) To manage that risk.
2 CATEGORIES OF MAPPA CASES
There are three categories of offenders who are eligible for MAPPA.
Category 1- Registered Sex Offenders (those convicted or cautioned/ finally warned since September 1997 for certain sexual offences or who at that point were serving a sentence for a like offence). Appendix 2 provides a list of offences meeting the criteria for sex offender registration.
Category 2- Violent and Other Sex Offenders (those convicted of a specified offence and sentenced to custody/ period of detention for twelve months or more).
Category 3- Young people who do not fit into either the first two categories but who have been convicted of an offence and have been assessed as posing either a high or very high risk of harm to the public and requires the active involvement and co-ordination of interventions from other agencies to manage the presenting risk of harm.
3 KEY DEFINITIONS
In determining whether a young person meets the criteria for management at the higher MAPPA levels (2 and 3) it is important YOT staff are familiar with the following definitions:
a. Risk – the probability that an event or behaviour carrying the possibility of an adverse or negative outcome will occur.
b. Serious Harm – means death or injury (either physical or psychological) which is life threatening and/or traumatic and from which recovery is expected to be difficult, incomplete or impossible.
When completing the risk of serious harm ASSET (ROSH) the YOT worker is required to consider a young persons offending and make an assessment as to which of the following four categories of risk is most appropriate:
a. Low Risk of Serious Harm – no evidence at present to indicate likelihood of serious harmful behaviour in the future.
b. Medium Risk of Serious Harm – some risk identified but the young person is unlikely to cause serious harm unless circumstances change.
c. High Risk of Serious Harm – risk of harm identified. The potential event could happen at any time and the impact would be serious.
d. Very High Risk of Serious Harm – imminent risk of harm identified. The young person will commit the behaviour in question as soon as they are able to or as soon as the opportunity arises and the impact would be serious.
These definitions are provided by the Youth Justice Board and effectively mirror those used in the MAPPA process. The definitions have important implications for how the worker manages the supervision of a young person.
4 IDENTIFICATION OF MAPPA CASES
When a YOT worker is allocated a case it is their responsibility in conjunction with their manager to identify whether it is appropriate to be considered for MAPPA management. The following action should be taken.
Category 1 – Registered Sex Offenders. The responsibility for advising the MAPPA support unit of those cases rests with the Police. There will be an allocated Police Officer who will visit the young person at a frequency determined by the Police risk assessment. The responsibility of the YOT worker is to make contact with the allocated Police Officer and to maintain a regular dialogue for the duration of the supervisory period.
Category 2 - Violent and other Sex Offenders. With these cases the YOT is responsible for notifying the MAPPA support unit immediately following conviction and sentence. This should be done using the MAPPA Form 1 “Initial nomination of a MAPPA Nominal”. At this stage this is the only information required by the MAPPA support unit.
Category 3 – Other Offenders. With these cases the YOT worker in conjunction with their manager will need to identify whether a) the young person poses a high or very high risk of harm and b) the risk of harm requires multi-agency management at the higher levels of MAPPA (2 and 3). Category 3 cases can no longer be managed at Level 1.
5 REFERRAL TO MAPPA
Category 1 – Registered Sex Offenders – The YOT are not responsible for the referral of Category 1 cases.
Category 2 – The YOT will have notified the MAPPA support unit of the existence of these cases at the point of sentence. However referral to MAPPA does not take place until 6 to 8 months before the date of release. At this point the YOT worker will need to complete/review the ASSET and ROSH. In conjunction with the Operational Manager they will agree the ROSH level. Where the risk is assessed as medium or low a referral to MAPPA will not be appropriate and the case should be managed in line with normal agency procedures. Where a case is assessed as high or very high it should be referred to MAPPA using the updated referral forms, where it will be considered at a screening meeting. The screening meeting is attended by the MAPPA Co-ordinator and the Detective Inspector from the Child and Public Protection Unit. The screening meeting will determine what level within MAPPA the case should be managed.
Category 3 – Having identified a young person who meets the criteria, the YOT worker should immediately make a referral to MAPPA using the updated referral forms, where it will be considered at a screening meeting and the appropriate level of MAPPA management will be determined.
6 LEVELS OF MAPPA MANAGEMENT
Level 1 – The lowest level of MAPPA management and will be appropriate for Category 1 and 2 cases where the assessed level of risk is low or medium. In practice it will mean normal agency management but it will formalise a) the need for regular communications with the Police regarding young people on the sex offender register and b) the arrangements individual YOTs have for the oversight and management of their high need cases e.g. Risk Management Panels held in Leeds. It is possible that some Category 1 and 2 cases initially managed at Level 2 will be moved to Level 1 although the assessed risk remains high because it is concluded there is no longer a need for Level 2 management. With these cases in particular it will be important for YOT’s to have their own internal processes for the oversight and management of such cases. All Level 1 cases must be reviewed at least every 16 weeks.
Level 2 – A level of MAPPA management appropriate for all categories of MAPPA cases. Level 2 cases will require the co-ordination of a MAPPA meeting which will be chaired by either the MAPPA Co-ordinator or the Detective Inspector responsible for MAPPA screening. The identified purpose of the meeting is to share information, agree on assessment of risk, agree a strategy for managing the risk and finally agree the process for reviewing the management of the case. In the early stages of the meeting the YOT worker will be invited to present a summary of the current situation. It is very important the YOT worker is prepared for this and it is good practice to prepare a written report which will form the basis of the YOT workers presentation to the meeting.
MAPPA meetings are confidential and a young person or their legal representative will not be allowed to attend. Any sharing of third party information discussed in the meeting must be agreed with the Chair. On occasions third party disclosure will be recommended as part of the risk management plan. However, final decisions on this can only be taken at Assistant Chief Constable level.
It will be appropriate to advise a young person the management of their case is overseen by MAPPA, to share with them the reasons for this and the implication for them.Level 2 meetings will be minuted by the MAPPA Senior Admin Officer and the minutes will be circulated within five working days. MAPPA minutes should be kept in the confidential section of the case file.
Level 3 – The highest level of MAPPA management and is applicable for all categories of MAPPA case. This level of management will only be appropriate in a small number of high or very high risk cases where the complexity of the issues to be addressed, the resource requirements or the media/public interest are such that senior managers from more than one agency are required to make the decisions necessary to manage the case. Level 3 meetings have a consistent attendance of senior managers from key organisations such as Police, Probation, Social Care, Mental Health and accommodation providers. The purpose and format of meetings is the same as Level 2 meetings, however, they are usually chaired by an Area Manager or Assistant Chief Officer from the Probation Service.
7 VISOR
VISOR (Violent Offender and Sexual Offender Register) is a national confidential database which facilitates the effective sharing of information, intelligence and joint risk assessments on violent and sexual offenders between the Probation, Police and Prisons (Responsible Authority). It is not intended that VISOR should replace case management systems, it is an aid to enhance the assessment and management of risk. The YOT’s are a ‘duty to co-operate authority’ and while it is intended YOT cases managed at Level 2 or 3 will be entered on to VISOR, the process for doing so has yet to be established.
8 MAPPA CASES - AWARENESS
MAPPA cases along with active child protection cases will be the highest priority areas of work for all teams in the YOT. It is important these cases should be readily identifiable to all staff who may need to access them. The following actions must be undertaken in all area teams.
i) A young persons MAPPA status must be entered on YOIS in the characteristics screen as either MAPPA Level 1, 2 or 3.
ii) Team managers must maintain a team log of all MAPPA cases. This must be kept up to date and a copy forwarded on a quarterly basis to the service manager so a YOT register of MAPPA cases can be maintained.
iii) Information on MAPPA offenders managed at Level 2 or Level 3 must be routinely shared with the District MAPPA support unit to ensure that VISOR updates are entered on each young person.
9 EXIT FROM MAPPA
The management of all young people under MAPPA will end at the expiry point of their period of supervision. There is no provision for young people not under the supervision of the YOT to be subject to MAPPA.
In some situations the management of a case under MAPPA will end during the course of supervision. For example a Category 3 case may be reassessed as a low or medium risk of harm. In these circumstances there is no requirement for continued MAPPA management. The case will then be arranged according to individual YOT procedures.
It is the responsibility of the YOT case manager to inform the MAPPA support unit when any young people managed at level 1 comes to the end of their period of supervision.
10 TRANSFERS OF MAPPA CASES
a) Between YOTs
There will be occasions when young people move from one area to another and at such times there is potential for the risk of harm to increase while new arrangements for the management of the case are put in place. The aim should always be for any move to be negotiated and carefully planned. The YOT line manager should take responsibility for liaising with their equivalent and the MAPPA manager in the new area. Relevant paperwork including PSR, Core ASSET, ROSH ASSET and MAPPA minutes should be forwarded to the new area and a date arranged for a MAPPA meeting should be set. The line manager and YOT worker should attend the MAPPA meeting in the new area and at this forum the arrangements for the transfer of the case should be agreed. The formal transfer of the case file should be done via the respective YOT service managers.
There will be occasions when it will not be possible to transfer a case in the way described. If a young person moves without permission and the view is taken the risk of harm is increased consideration should be given to instigating breach proceedings assuming a condition of supervision has been broken e.g. condition of residence. If no breach has been committed it is imperative all relevant information is shared with the new area on a ‘same day’ timescale and the level of liaison between the old and the new area should be at a high level involving MAPPA and all relevant agencies. Although not an ideal way to transfer a case, once all the information relating to the move has been confirmed, formal transfer of the case between respective YOT managers should take place at the earliest opportunity. Caretaking arrangements should be kept to a minimum, clear and robust risk management is most likely to be achieved with one organisation taking responsibility.