Just for Kids Law (JfK)

Antigone Award 2010

2010-08-13T16:07:00.001Z

The Antigone Foundation was founded in 2007 by the philanthropist Martha Lane Fox and promotes the successes of socially excluded people. Antigone is supporting Just for Kids Law, allowing us to award young people with the ‘Antigone Award’. The award is given to a young person, engaged with JfK Law, who has made the most progress over the previous year in the face of serious hardship and adversity.

This year we received eight nominations for the award. One eighteen year old, involved in a street robbery and sentenced to six months in a Young Offenders Institution, has returned to school, secured a part time job and plans to train as a Youth Worker and attend an Oxbridge University. Another nominee, despite a conviction for Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and a nine month prison sentence, now has a part time job, has taken steps to address her alcohol and substance misuse issues and is looking to find a college placement which combines GCSEs with a book keeping course.

The winner of this year’s Antigone Award is eighteen year old Saffron. After completing a 2 year custodial sentence at a secure training centre Saffron was determined to make a new start. She found herself independent accommodation and a place on a college course studying business and administration. Saffron then came, of her own initiative, to ask for work experience at Just for Kids Law. During her placement she was an asset to the JfK Law team, not only taking on important tasks for the staff but also training groups of up to thirty lawyers at a time around the country.
Saffron was taken out for dinner on August 4th by Martha Lane Fox and the two JfK Law directors, Aika and Shauneen, and presented with her prize of £250.
We are so proud of the achievements of all the nominees and wish them the best for the future.

http://www.marthalanefox.com/

Raising the age of criminal responsibility

2010-07-13T19:04:00.004Z

In a letter printed in the Times, Just for Kids Law has joined the voices of other charities and practitioners to ask for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised. Written by Dr Eileen Vizard the letter calls for raising the age limit substantially in line with most other countries and proposes a consultation process to explore how this can be achieved.

The letter reads:

"The Times

Letters to the Editor

7th July 2010

Children and court

The age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries.

Sir, We are concerned about the very low age of criminal responsibility, ten years old, for children in England and Wales. The assumption that a ten-year-old can face charges is widely discussed in terms of whether or not that child can “understand the difference between right and wrong”. The question is more complicated — most ten-year-olds can understand that difference. The test should go beyond this and should decide whether the defendant’s intellectual capacity is such that he could not effectively participate in the proceedings and accordingly have a fair trial.

We believe that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries and propose a consultation process, led by the Law Commission, to explore how this could be rectified."

Dr Eileen Vizard, Child and adolescent psychiatrist; Shauneen Lambe, Director, Just for Kids Law; Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor Sarah – Jane Blakemore UCL, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience; Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust; Paul Mendelle, QC Chairman, Criminal Bar Association; Andrew Flanaghan, CEO, NSPCC; Lord Ramsbotham, House of Lords. Plus 26 other signatories listed at thetimes.co.uk/letters

Comment on the Edlington case

2010-01-25T10:53:00.003Z

Commenting on the case of the boys in Edlington, Shauneen Lambe, Director of Just for Kids Law said:

"This case is, of course, shocking and distressing. The consequences of neglect and lack of proper support once again reaches far beyond the individuals involved. In this case, horrifically, the violence was passed on to other children. All too sadly, I am not surprised at all by the chaotic life that these boys lived. We see many children whose lives are desperate; blighted by poverty and neglect despite this being one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Much of the work we do involves litigation against authorities who we feel should provide more to the children in their area. It is only with proper and often costly investment from early stages that we can avoid tragic events like this."

[Press Release 22/01/10]

Charioke Marathon November 2009

2009-11-25T14:17:00.005Z

Organised by Refugee Action,
Just for Kids Law joined in chorus with Children of the Andes and Food Chain to sing our way through 10 hours of karaoke classics. A huge thanks to Melissa Reardon, Rebecca Toennessen and Emma B who sang their hearts out for our Hardship Fund and raised close to £900.

Vacancy - Education and Community Care Lawyer

2009-10-28T15:14:00.004Z

JfK are looking to recruit a education and community care lawyer as soon as possible.

The role: mainly to provide children and young people with direct representation and advice at first instance hearings, for example Independent Appeal Panels and SENDIST, as well as judicially reviewing cases, particularly in urgent s17/s20 Children Act 1989 disputes where Local Authorities are not appropriately supporting and accommodating vulnerable young people.

The main activities will include:
· providing legal advice and assistance to children and young people in relation to school admissions and exclusions, special educational needs and appeals to SENDIST;
· providing direct representation at relevant education hearings;
· providing legal advice and assistance to children and young people in the care system, including “looked after” children and those leaving care;
· taking cases and preparing and issuing judicial review challenges in the above fields;
· working with JfK’s Youth Advocate to meet the needs of its client group.
· Participating in the trainings organised by JfK Law.
· Attend relevant trainings in areas of Education or Community Care Law

The Person: The successful candidate will be a solicitor or have other equivalent legal qualifications and experience. We are a small but vibrant community based organisation looking for a hard-working, dedicated, computer literate, individual who is committed to advancing the rights of our client group. The Education and Community Care Lawyer will be under the direct supervision of the Directors of Just for Kids Law. Any job offer is subject to CRB approval.

Hours: We are preferably looking for someone to work full-time. Working hours may be outside typical office hours.

Office: Just For Kids Law is situated at 402 Harrow Rd. The closest underground stations are Westbourne Park (Hammersmith and City) and Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo). The majority of our clients are based locally.

Starting Salary: ₤28,500 per annum.

Application: CV’s and a covering letter to be sent to shauneenlambe@justforkidslaw.org

Closing Date: 6th November 2009.

Closure of Secure Children's Homes

2009-05-20T10:19:00.002Z

JFK has grave concerns about the YJB decision to cut the number of secure children's home places from 219 to 191. Whilst custody is rarely a productive outcome for a young person caught up in the criminal justice system, SCH's provide the kind of care and provision that the YJB should be seeking to develop.

JFK has grave concerns that more young people will be placed in Young Offender Institutes or Secure Training Centre's. These places just aren't suitable for very young and vulnerable young people.

Mary O'Hara has written about the concerns of penal reformers in today's society Guardian.http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/20/secure-care-homes-closure

We are also concerned that young, vulnerable people will be placed far from the families and communities that are so important to ensuring they stay away from offending behaviour. In addition, under the Carter Legal Aid reforms, lawyers no longer get paid for their travel time to visit clients held in custody. JFK has concerns that as there will be no SCH provision in the London area that young people may in effect be denied access to their solicitors, as firms will be under financial strain to spend significant time travelling to visit their clients.

Hemini hits the headlines

2009-04-20T11:36:00.003Z

Hemini's charity run has made it to the news! Clink the link to see the article and don't forget to sponsor her through www.justgiving.com/heminipatel

http://www.londoninformer.co.uk/london-news/london-local-news/2009/04/17/10-000kms-just-for-the-kids-113489-23407540

The 'Hardship' Run

2009-04-17T12:51:00.003Z

Hemini Patel, a solicitor in the Youth Department is doing the BUPA 10K run on the 25th May for JFK! Any money raised will go to the JFK Hardship Fund.

The hardship fund allocates a maximum of £250 to our clients with an urgent financial need and who, without our assistance, have no legitimate means of getting the money.

Just this month the hardship fund has been used to buy groceries and toiletries for a 16 year old girl who we represent. Her borough refused to accept she was a child in need - even after she presented to them homeless having been diagnosed with hypothermia and malnutrition. Through our intervention the borough have accepted their responsibility to this young girl and have housed her in supported accomodation. The hardship fund was also used to buy beds for 2 of our clients age 15 and 13. Our youth advocate discovered that they were having to sleep on the floor- they had recently moved from their father's house and social services would not provide their mother with a grant to buy them beds.

Please sponsor her- just click on this link www.justgiving.com/heminipatel . Just giving is an easy way to donate and if you are a UK taxpayer an extra 28% is given to us in Gift Aid.

Jermaine in the News

2009-03-11T11:42:00.003Z

Clink the link to see Jermaine's interview with local newspaper. Jermaine won the prestigious 'Black boy of Achievement Award' and credited JFK with helping him get his life on track.

http://www.londoninformer.co.uk/london-news/london-local-news/2009/02/17/just-for-kids-law-success-story-scoops-award-113489-22945089/

Jermaine is the winner!

2009-01-27T16:06:00.003Z

Jermaine Noon was awarded the black boy of distinction award on Saturday 24th January by the "National Black Boys Can Association."

Lee Jasper, the race equality campaigner presenting the award compared Jermaine to Barack Obama saying that when our young men want to turn their life around they say "yes we can."

Jermaine received a standing ovation when he received the award. He thanked JFK for all their help and said that he couldn't have turned everything around without our help. He told us later that he is really happy with where he is in his life right now.

We all send Jermaine a big congratulations. He totally deserves the award and we are just delighted that he is doing so well!

2009-01-22T15:21:00.002Z

JFK is delighted to announce that Jermaine Noon has been nominated and is a strong contender for the award of 'Black Boy of Distinction" by the The National Black Boys Can Associaton http://www.blackboyscan.co.uk/event_details.php?id=6. The award ceremony forms part of their national conference on the 24th January at the Emmanuel Conference Centre.

Jermaine is a former client of JFK and really has turned his life around. He was one of six children and as a child he witnessed domestic violence in the home. Between 2000 and 2005 he was placed on the Child Protection Register. In 2006 Jermaine was defined as a persistent young offender with a long history in the criminal justice system. He was banned from the YOT, was being considered for an ASBO by his borough and was deemed to have serious anger management issues. Then to make matters worse, by 2007 he was homeless. He decided to turn his life around and was assisted in this by the Youth Offending Team and Just for Kids Law. With our help he obtained his driving licence and eventually after a successful interview and undertaking a 14 week training program he secured himself a full-time job with the National Grid. He has now been in full time employment for 9 months and continues to get positive reviews from his employers. Jermaine now rents his own flat, owns a car and is a pro- active ambassador for Just for Kids Law, helping us out wherever he can. He has got involved in training law students on the Youth Justice System and even built our office furniture!

We wish Jermaine the best of luck for Saturday!

Una Padel Award

2009-01-14T17:18:00.002Z

JFK was delighted to receive the Una Padel Organisation award from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies last night. http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/

The presentation ceremony was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Mark Easton (Home Affairs Editor, BBC) including Tina Jenkins, (Ministry of Justice) Clive Martin, (Director of Clinks) and Matthew Smerdon (The Baring Foundation.) The debate focussed on voluntary sector independence in the world of government contracts.

Una Padel was a Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies until 2006 and a tireless campaigner for penal reform. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/sep/07/guardianobituaries.ukcrime

The Centre for Criminal Justice Studies set up this award to recognise those working tirelessly at the unglamorous end of the criminal justice system. Shauneen Lambe, Director of JFK, accepted the award saying, “ In our work you can often feel under appreciated, so being recognised and supported in this way makes a huge difference and is incredibly encouraging.’

We feel very honoured to receive this award, named after a such an inspiring woman.

The Movers

2007-08-07T16:38:00.000Z

It is all beginning to take shape. We should all be awarded PhD's in flatpack furniture. Thanks to the crew.

New Offices

2007-08-03T16:54:00.000Z

We are extremely excited to take possession of keys to our first proper office. We will spend the weekend building IKEA furniture and then, if we are all still talking to each other, will be open for business on Monday. Our new address is 402 Harrow Road, London, W9 2HU.

Damaged Kids don't Deserve Violence

2007-07-04T13:34:00.000Z

We agree with Eric Allison's article in the Guardian today - "Damaged Kids Don't Deserve Violence" http://society.guardian.co.uk/crimeandpunishment/comment/0,,2117432,00.html.

How can it be acceptable to extend the rules for use of force against vulnerable children in secure training centres, when as a country we are debating whether parents are ever entitled to use force against their own children.

At a cost that is 7 times more expensive than any UK public school, the tax payer may be concerned about the standard of education that these children are getting in custody. Since April 2000 only 279 of the 10,000 children who had been in custody obtained GCSE passes. (Education Law and Practice: Ford, Hughes, Ruebain). If this were a parent paying for their young child they would surely object to the standard of education received. We are all paying for this education - more than just financially.

Photo of our Hero

2007-07-04T13:30:00.000Z

Aika Stephenson wins Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year

2007-07-03T05:04:00.000Z

Anyways, so our Legal Director recently won Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year: www.lapg.co.uk/press.cfm?press_id=305. This trumps Times Lawyer of the Week everytime...

Welcome to JfK's blog

2007-06-14T05:57:00.000Z

Welcome to JfK's new blog. Day in, day out, we encounter talented, brilliant and positive kids who have wonderful potential. However, for whatever reason, they find themselves either caught up in the criminal justice system, or battling a myriad of social problems and a system that does not always provide the support they deserve. The media predictably skews the reality of young peoples' lives and the criminal justice system. This blog aims to highlight our everyday observations. We encourage people to comment and contribute their own postings.