FTFY.
My wife was a Young Offenders Team social worker for a number of years,
I was actually referring to the legal process and court system – courts and lawyers, not about support and guidance outside of that world.
Just as an example there was a kid we know that had got into trouble – involved in an assault in the sense of being present at it. There was a racial element in the sense that the victim was asian, but not in the sense that it was a racially motivated crime. However it did mean that nuances in anything the defendants were asked or answered were really quite important.
My partner turned up at the court and our pal was nowhere to be seen – he’d mixed up dates and had gone to the wrong appointment in the wrong place. She contacted him and got it him to get his arse over there, luckily there were delays to the case starting. In the mean time the defence lawyer rocks up – wheres the kid? – its explained that he’s on his way and explains theres a delay and the case will start late. ‘Oh thats lucky, I haven’t spoken to him yet anyway’. So the lawyer would perfectly happy for him to walk into court without any understanding of the processes and without the lawyer having any understanding of the defendants situation.
Later when the case was over – his lawyer didn’t even explain what the verdict was and that the kid was free to go.