Received a letter from the Reporter?

 You might receive a letter from the Children’s Reporter if there are concerns about you.

What is a referral?

A referral is when information about a young person is sent by the police, social work department or a school to the Children’s Reporter.

There are lots of different reasons why a young person might be referred to the Children’s Reporter. These include:

• If they have not been going to school,
• If they have been in trouble with the police,
• If they have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs,
• If their behaviour has been causing concern at home, school or in the community,
• If someone is worried that they are not being cared for properly by their parents or carers,
• If an adult has hurt them or someone in their family in some way.

If I have been referred, will I have to go to a Hearing?

If you have been referred to the Reporter, you will get a letter. Your parents or carers will also get a similar letter. It will explain why you have been referred to the Reporter.

The Reporter might then ask for some more information about you from your school or from social work. Once they get this information they will decide if you need to go to a Hearing. The Reporter will write to you again to let you know what they decide and what will happen next.

If I have been referred, what could happen to me?

There are a few different things that a Reporter can decide to do:

• They can decide to arrange a Children’s Hearing which will support you to receive the help that you need.
• They may decide that you don’t need to attend a Children’s Hearing because you and your family are engaging voluntarily with services (like social work) to improve your safety and wellbeing.