An Attendance Centre Order sentences a young person to attend an attendance centre.
The main purpose of attendance centres is to put a restriction on young offenders’ leisure time – they are open on Saturdays for two or three hours. Their programmes concentrate on group work to give attendees basic skills – literacy and numeracy, life skills, cookery, first aid and money management, for example - as well as encouraging attendees to make better use of leisure time.
The programme also includes victim awareness sessions, which consider the impact of offending on individuals and the community and how the young person might make amends; and sessions on drug and alcohol awareness, and sexual health matters.
The order can last up to 36 hours depending on the age of the offender and the seriousness of the offence.