24/09/2020: Have your say on impact of virtual family court hearings and child protection conferences on practice

Dramatically overhauling entire working practices in the family justice system was not on the agenda for 2020 and, if it had been, research and evaluations would have been a core part of the design . . . process. But Covid-19 turned the system on its head. Previously inconceivable practices – from remote courtrooms to socially-distanced contact between children and parents – became the new normal overnight. Professionals had to make rapid decisions about the support that could be provided to children and families and, initially at least, these decisions had to be made in the dark.
Community Care

23/09/2020: Dark web drugs raid leads to 179 arrests

Police forces around the world have seized more than $6.5m (£5m) in cash and virtual currencies, as well as drugs and guns in a co-ordinated raid on dark web marketplaces. Some 179 people were . . . arrested across Europe and the US, and 500kg (1,102lb) of drugs and 64 guns confiscated. It ends the “golden age” of these underground marketplaces, Europol said. “The hidden internet is no longer hidden”, said Edvardas Sileris, head of Europol’s cyber-crime centre.
BBC

18/09/2020: Hub gives teens at risk of crime ‘another chance’

A new academy aims to give disadvantaged teens at risk of committing offences “another chance” in education. BIIIG Academy in Bristol will take on 20 students to train for an NVQ3 in construction from . . . October. Youth worker Anton Brown set up the centre using his own money in memory of teenager Tyrone Hayman, who was fatally stabbed in 2019. The academy will also house a music studio, kitchen and a creative hub.
BBC