Youth Justice Service

• supervise children and young people on Out of Court Disposals
• help children and young people with their physical & mental health, including speech, language and communication needs

• is ‘at risk’ of committing a crime
• Is involved in anti-social behaviour
• Is at risk of or involved in exploitation
• Is referred to us by Children's Services for support
• Gets into trouble with the police or is arrested
• Is charged with a crime
• Is convicted of a crime and given a sentence

We will carry out an assessment at the beginning of our involvement with the child or young person. The assessment helps us understand what has led to them getting into (or being at risk of getting into) trouble, including the risk they pose to themselves and others.

We carry out the assessment by talking with the young people, ensuring that their voices are heard. We will also contact other people involved in their lives, like parents, carers, school, social services and health professionals like CAMHS.

We also talk to the victims of crime. We make attempts to include victims in the work we do - to reduce the fear of crime and encourage children and young people to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends for any harm caused.

Everything that we will be focussing on in 2023/2024 is contained within our annual Youth Justice Plan. Please view the short video below, which provides a summary of Dudley YJS Youth Justice Plan 2023-2024.

We will help with:

• Education, Employment and Training
• Understanding the harm caused and helping children and young people repair the harm
• Drugs and alcohol work
• Offending behaviour work
• Support from CAMHS
• Speech and Language support
• The role of parents and carers in preventing and reducing children and young people getting into trouble is another important area we prioritise.