Referral Order

What is a Referral Order?

You can get a Referral Order when you have pleaded guilty to an offence and it is your first or second appearance at court. It can last from 3-12 months. It is a special type of court order because once you have completed it, your conviction is 'spent'. This means when you apply for most jobs or courses, you don't have to declare it. The Youth Justice Service (YJS) can give you more information about when you would have to declare it, so ask them if you are unsure.

The purpose of the Referral Order is to stop you offending again in future.


What will happen after I leave court?

Within the next few days, your YJS worker will contact you and arrange to meet with you to do an assessment and they will also give you a date for your Initial Panel Meeting:

What is an Assessment?

When you first meet, your YJS worker will ask you all about yourself and what happened on the day you got into trouble. They will use this, plus other information from your parents/carers, school, social worker etc to write a report about you.

Initial panel meeting?

This meeting is a restorative process where you will meet with two or three specially trained volunteers from the community (called community panel members) with your parent/carer. During this meeting you will be given the opportunity to talk about your thoughts and feelings around what happened and how to repair any harm caused. You will then be involved in agreeing a contract. The contract will include things that you must do while you have your order. The person harmed by your offence may also be invited. If this is likely to happen, your YJS worker will talk to you about this before so there are no shocks or surprises.


What could be in my contract?

The contract is made up of 2 parts:

1. Reparation

This means something you will do to make up for the harm you have caused through your offence. This could be saying 'sorry' to the person harmed, writing a letter of apology or doing something to help them. It could also involve helping the wider community, for example by doing community work or making a poster.

2. Session at the YOS

These are parts of the contract which are there to help you keep out of trouble in future. These could include seeing your YS worker to help you make better decisions, attending school regularly or seeing a drug and alcohol worker.

The contract should be agreed between everyone at the panel and you can help decide what should go in it to make sure you don't offend again.

Your referral order starts on the date you sign your contract, not the date you appeared in court.


What happens after my initial panel meeting?

Afterwards your YJS worker will agree appointments with you. They will explain how often you need to meet and you can decide when and where is best.


What if I don't stick to my referral order?

If any of the following happens:

  • you don't attend any of your panel meetings

  • you don't manage to agree a contract with the panel

  • you refuse to sign the contract

  • you don't complete any of the work in the contract

  • you miss appointments without a valid reason

  • you behave unacceptably at the Youth Offending Service offices

The panel may decide to send you back to court. The court could then take away your referral order and put a more serious order in its place.


What if I do really well on my order?

If you have completed at least half your order and done everything in your contract, in some cases, your worker can take your case back to court and ask the court to finish early.

We want to help you to move on with your life and put the offence behind you. We hope you will finish your referral order successfully.

Further Support

Merseyside Police

Phone: 999 in an emergency

  • a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed

  • someone is in immediate danger or harm

  • property is in danger of being damaged

  • a serious disruption to the public is likely

Phone: 0800 555 111 for Crimestoppers

For more information about Police UK search Police UK in this directory.

Visit the Merseyside Police website

Catch 22

Offender management, violence reduction interventions, rehabilitation and victim services. Working with young people and adults, we provide intervention services in custody and in the community that are focused on building strong, consistent and trusting relationships to help unlock potential and make positive changes in life.

Phone: 020 7336 4800

Email: Peopleservices@catch-22.org.uk

For more information about Catch22 search Catch22 in this directory. 

Visit the Catch22 website

Visit the Catch22 Facebook page

Wirral Youth Justice Service Prevention Work

YJS prevention work is completed on a voluntary basis with young people aged 10 to 18 years who are involved in Anti-Social or Offending Behaviour.

Who is eligible and how can I make a referral to Prevention Services?

In order to be eligible for support young people must be involved in either 1,2, 3 or 4:

1 - Persistent high level ASB (consider checking with Wirral Anti-Social Behaviour Team)

2 - Behaviour which could have resulted in a prosecution (including regularly carrying weapons)

3 - Violence on parents/carers

(if this is the key issue then please contact Tim Collins 666 4918 for the referral form for this service)

4 – Concerning

(not harmful) sexual behaviour (those committing harmful sexual behaviour should be referred on the Changing Futures referral form and should contact Ann Ainscough or Patricia Wootton via our main number 666 3466

Additional Factors

School Factors – NEET, Exclusion or Risk of, Very low school attendance

Drug / Alcohol use impacting life chances

Peers or Family committing offences / Risk of Criminal Exploitation (CE)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

Referrals for the YJS Prevention Services should be completed on the Youth Justice Service referral form.  Please call 0151-666-3466 for more details.

Referral form can be found in the resources section here