The Kilbrandon Committee findings of 1964, the White Paper 'Social Work and the Community' of 1966, and the Social Work Act of 1968 provided for establishment of juvenile panels to replace juvenile courts and new social work departments to help individuals, families, and groups solve problems with their own resources. The hearing system, which commenced operation in 1971, operates within a local structure which leaves certain checks and balances to central Government but allows independence to the essential system elements. Every region has a Children's Panel Advisory Committee, which submits names of possible children's panel members to the Secretary of State and advises him on matters relating to administration of the panels. Panels range in size from 10 to 900 individuals between the ages of 20 and 60 years, depending on the size of the particular region. Appointments are generally for 3 years. The official primarily responsible for arranging children's hearings in each area is the reporter, who is appointed by the local authority. A child under 16 gets into the system if he is referred to the reporter by a person or agency which believes that he may need compulsory care measures. Most children are referred by the police for having committed offenses which are neither very minor nor extremely grave. After a reporter has received a referral and possibly made initial investigations, he may decide to take no further action, refer the case to the social work department, or bring the child before a children's hearing. A private hearing by three panel members is held if the child and his parents accept the grounds for referral. The informal proceedings may result in no further action (42 percent), in community supervision (47 percent), or in residential placement (11 percent). The social work department has the responsibilities of preparing a social background report for the hearing and of supervising children at home or in residential establishments. The new hearing system has removed children from the courts, separating trials from treatment and created a new body to deal with children informally using an extensive body of social information. In addition, new objectives have been set in the process of dealing with children in trouble, and the need for a wider range of treatment resources and for flexibility in their development has been recognized. Notes and appendixes are supplied.