Bail support and supervision happens when the court orders the Youth Justice Service to supervise a young person. Conditions are set upon the young person's bail, and they also have to attend regular appointments with Youth Justice Service staff to help them stay out of trouble.

The law says that bail conditions must be fair and reasonable and must not take away more of the young person's freedom than is necessary. The Youth Justice Service staff help the Judge or Magistrates to decide this by completing a Bail Assessment to explain what support the service can provide and by advising the court on which conditions may be necessary. The Youth Justice Service worker will always talk to the young person and their parent/carer before doing this and will help them to understand their rights and duties.

If the court agrees to place the young person under Bail Supervision then the Youth Justice Service worker will arrange appointments and services to help the young person stay out of trouble. This might include help with accommodation, education jobs or training, drug and/or alcohol misuse, family support etc. Some of these are delivered directly by the service whilst others are arranged through other local services.

It is important to remember that Bail Supervision is compulsory and if a young person does not cooperate they will usually only get one warning. If they break the rules again they are arrested by the Police and taken straight back to court. The Judge or Magistrates might decide that the young person cannot be trusted anymore and remand them into custody.

Remand to custody
In very rare and serious cases the young person must be remanded in a secure establishment (a Young Offenders' Institute, Secure Training Centre or Secure Children's Home) while their case is being dealt with. This is very hard for the young people and their families, and very expensive, so Bail Supervision is used whenever possible.