A new film aims to improve the skills and confidence of youth justice professionals in dealing with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
The brainchild of the voluntary sector coalition The Communication Trust, Sentence Trouble is targeted at youth offending teams, lawyers, secure estate staff, magistrates and the police, to help them recognise SLCN and understand their own communication skills.
The film makes the case for better communication skills and calls for changes in the law to ensure young defendants with SLCN have the same rights as witnesses to an intermediary, who can support them to communicate with a police officer or judge.
It is thought that around 60 per cent of those in the youth justice system have SLCN, while this figure is just ten per cent for children and young people in the general population. There is widespread concern regarding the implications for justice and fair sentencing if many young people in the system cannot communicate effectively during police interviews and trials.
The Sentence Trouble film includes accounts from a wide range of professionals of the impact of SLCN on a young person going through the youth justice system. It also includes ideas for specialist training for magistrates and other legal professionals, and examples of good practice in how to support youth offending teams in the development of their SLCN skills.
For more information and to view the film, go to:
http://www.sentencetrouble.info/film
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