Youth Offending Service
The Youth Offending Service wants to help young people to:
- understand why they break the law, and how this affects them and others
- stop getting into trouble with the police and stop breaking the law
- take part in all the things that they may be interested in, in their local community.
Who would be referred to the Youth Justice Project?
Young people who have been involved in more than one criminal offence, whose Social Worker and/or the Children's Panel believe there is a risk of the young person offending again.
What happens in the Youth Offending Service?
- A Youth Justice Social Worker meets with the young person, his or her Social Worker, parents or carers and school staff.
- In the first six weeks, the young person will meet on a one-to-one basis with a worker twice a week. This is called the Assessment Period.
- After the Assessment Period, the Youth Justice Social Worker will write a short report which includes an Action Plan if required - and then the Action Plan is put into practice. This may also involve the young person's parents, carers or school.
- Most of the work in the Action Plan is done directly with the young person, who is encouraged to share thoughts about why he or she breaks the law and what needs to be changed to help stop the pattern.
- The young person may be asked to do some written work, take part in exercises, listen to tapes or watch videos and talk about his or her behaviour. The Youth Justice Social Worker will also talk to the young person about what will happen if he or she decides not to complete the plan.
How long does the process take?
It is difficult to say how long the process will take, because it depends upon what the young person wants to change and how difficult it is to make the transition.
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If an Action Plan is necessary, it will run for 12 weeks. After this everyone involved in the plan will meet to share progress and see if any changes need to be made.
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If nothing needs to be changed, the programme will come to an end.
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If the young person and the Youth Justice Social Worker feel there is more work to be done, then a new Action Plan is agreed upon and put into place for the following 12 weeks.
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