New name for Youth Offending Service revealed
Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Service is changing its name to accurately reflect the work it carries out, ten years after it was originally set up.
From now on, the partnership of organisations including Warwickshire County Council, the Police, Probation Service and NHS Warwickshire, will be known as the Warwickshire Youth Justice Service.
It was announced by Marion Davis, Warwickshire County Council’s Strategic Director of the Children, Young People and Families directorate, at the annual Youth Offending Service conference held at Sports Connexions in Ryton.
Since it began in 1999, the Youth Offending Service focussed on the needs of young people to prevent offending and re-offending, working on issues such as education and health, as well as other areas including substance misuse.
In addition to this, practitioners work with parents and carers of young people between the ages of 10 and 17, offering them support and guidance through individual and group work programmes.
However, one of the key areas of work – which many people don’t realise is carried out – is helping the victims of youth crime. Two practitioners work within the Victim and Witness Information Partnership directly with those affected by crime.
The team then works with the victim to help the young person understand the consequences of their actions, and make up for what they have done (a process called restorative justice).
Diane Johnson, Head of Warwickshire’s Youth Justice Service, said: “Over the last ten years there have been many developments in the world of youth justice, and so we felt it was an ideal time to reflect on that.
“It is no longer simply about focussing on those who have committed crimes but also on helping their families, the victims and the rest of the community who may have been affected by it, and the new name embraces that.”
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families, said: “The Youth Justice Service will build on the past ten years of excellent partnership working for the benefit of everyone affected by youth crime.
“The team will continue to explore ways of reducing offending and re-offending such as restorative justice, reparation and rehabilitation, which have proven so successful in the past.”
To find out more about the Warwickshire Youth Justice Service, visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/yot.