New DDA duty may prevent inappropriate asbos

A new duty under the Disability Discrimination Act could help to prevent young people with disabilities and mental health problems CC Live Manchester smallinappropriately being given antisocial behaviour orders, a Community Care conference heard today.

Speaking at Community Care Live Children & Families in Manchester Sue Christoforou, policy officer at mental health charity Mind, said that the new requirement for public bodies to take account of people’s disabilities in the way they operated would have a “significant impact” on how asbos were used.

Christoforou added that police, magistrates and local authorities would also have to promote positive attitudes to disabled people and people with mental health problems under the new duty

“It strikes me that antisocial behaviour orders don’t do that, there has to be a review of how they are used,” she said.

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