Youth welfare in criminal proceedings

The supervision instruction is a socio-pedagogical measure ordered by the juvenile court. It lasts 6 to 12 months. Young people receive support, for example, with problems in the family, at school, in training, at work, in their leisure time or with friends. To this end, JuhiS involves important people and institutions. Support assistants are usually the employees of the youth welfare service in the criminal proceedings or other pedagogical specialists.

If a young person has committed a criminal offense, he or she and his or her parents promptly receive an invitation to a yellow card appointment (diversion day) at the police station in Langenfeld. On site, the team of the Hilden Youth Assistance in Criminal Procedure conducts a detailed interview with the young person and the parents. JuhiS then makes a proposal to the public prosecutor. The prosecutor then decides which educational measure to apply. The yellow card is mainly used for first and second offenders as well as in cases of light and medium crime. The young offender must confess and be reasonable, otherwise the public prosecutor's office will file charges and a court hearing will follow.

The so-called FreD - course is a useful measure for young people who have used intoxicants for the first time. The aim is to protect them from the risk of addiction. The course is run by the addiction counseling center. It includes a preliminary talk of about one hour and two course days, during which consumption, the legal consequences and the drugs themselves are discussed in 4 hours each. All discussions are confidential and subject to professional secrecy.

The competence training is a one-on-one training and lasts three to six months. During this time, the participants deal with the norms and values of society. Topics such as friendship, family, religion, respect, acceptance and honor, but also prejudices, loyalty and authority play a major role. The young people learn techniques that enable them to cope better with everyday life and resolve conflicts more effectively, while at the same time building trust in themselves and others.

JuhiS in Hilden offers a running project for young people. The court or public prosecutor's office can make participation a requirement. The course is suitable for the trained and untrained alike. The motto is "running without puffing." Here, participants train their endurance. Sport also contributes to general well-being. Running in a group promotes self-confidence and social skills.

The Hilden reading project is aimed at young people who have received an order from the court or public prosecutor's office. The young people choose a title from a specially created library. In the weeks that follow, they deal with the book in writing in consultation with JuhiS staff. The edition is concluded with a joint discussion. The books have possible crimes (drugs, violence, media, etc.) as a theme, but also areas of daily life such as school, family, love, friendship, etc..

The work services are activities that young offenders are required to do after school or on weekends. The juvenile court or the public prosecutor's office determines the number of hours. The hours of work are to be performed in non-profit institutions, preferably in youth welfare institutions, groups or projects led by a socio-educational specialist. This includes, for example, the so-called environmental project.

"Kurve kriegen" is a project of the Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2016, the Mettmann Hilden district police department has also been taking part.

The target group consists primarily of children and young people between the ages of 8 and 14 who have committed at least one violent crime or three property crimes. Their living conditions are usually burdened by so many problems that there is a risk of a permanent slide into criminality. As soon as the police receive a criminal complaint, they carry out a risk assessment. In doing so, it takes individual circumstances into account and draws up a prognosis. Specially trained and experienced specialists support the work of the police. They go into the family and stand by relatives and those affected. The aim is to prevent criminal careers at an early stage, raise young people's self-esteem, teach them how to act, and in this way improve their prospects in life. "Early help, instead of hardship later" is the guiding principle.

More info at www.kurvekriegen.nrw.de

Participation in a social training course is usually a court requirement. Over several weekends, trained trainers work in groups with the young people. The target group is offenders for whom a willingness to commit crimes and violence is a matter of course. Many of them are repeat offenders. The overriding goal is to change their behavior and thus prevent further offenses. They strengthen their social and communication skills and learn strategies to resolve conflicts without violence. In addition, the young offenders have to deal with the consequences both for themselves and for the victims to whom they have caused physical and psychological suffering.

Victim-offender mediation (TOA) offers victims and perpetrators of criminal offenses the opportunity to work out a settlement of conflicts out of court and with the participation of an impartial third party: "Reconciliation instead of punishment" is the main focus. The talks serve to come to terms with the crime, its consequences and to agree on reparations to be made by the offender to the injured party.

This course is aimed at young people who have committed a traffic offense. It takes place in cooperation with the Solingen traffic watch. Practical exercises and theory lessons alternate. The course contents are: Behavior in road traffic, vehicle control, traffic safety, hazard theory, alcohol in road traffic and questions about driving licenses and insurance law. The course lasts about 10 hours. The course is led by two police officers.