Somerset Youth Justice Team

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Overview

Our Youth Justice Team (YJT) works with children aged 10 to 17 to prevent youth crime and reduce re-offending in Somerset.

We:

aim to prevent children being involved in criminality through identification of children at risk, at an early stage
aim to ensure justice is dealt with quickly
help children face the consequences of their offending behaviour
work with children to tackle issues that put them at risk of offending
makes sure that punishment reflects them being children and is proportionate to the offence committed
aim to divert children involved in criminal behaviour, from the criminal justice system (and keep them out of court)
support parents and carers to be able to help their children
Provides support for victims of crimes committed by children

The Youth Justice Team gets involved if a young person:

gets into trouble with the police or is at risk of getting into trouble
is charged with a criminal offence and has to go to court
is convicted of a crime and given a sentence

Who we are

The team includes:

a Youth Justice Team Operational Manager and team leaders who support the overall work of the team
Youth Justice Team practitioners who are work directly with children and their families
a clinical psychologist
a speech, language and communication specialist
an education training and employment worker
a restorative justice worker who works with victims
a reparation worker who leads different activities in the community to help children repair harm by doing something positive for the community
a probation officer
a police officer
a police intervention worker
a community involvement worker who supports and co-ordinates all our community volunteers

Our Commitment to Children, Families and Victims

We are committed to working with all children, their parents or carers and victims without discrimination through age, race, gender, sexual orientation or disability and all other protected characteristics as listed under the Equalities Act 2010.

We support children living in Somerset to have the best possible chance of achieving their potential and we work with wider services to achieve that outcome. These include:

police
the probation service
children’s services
schools and education authorities
health
housing
the local community

Restorative Justice within the Somerset Youth Justice Team

Restorative justice is the process of bringing those individuals harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication. It encourages everyone affected by an incident to be involved in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward.  The Somerset Youth Justice Team will encourage young people to take responsibility for the harm and loss they have caused to their victim and then consider ways to make amends.

Victims of crimes committed by young people will be contacted by the Youth Justice Team Restorative Justice Worker and offered support.  This can be achieved by working with victims and listening to their views about the impact of the offence and how the child can repair the harm they have caused.  The Youth Justice Team Restorative Justice Worker will provide information about the different restorative justice processes that are available to them as victims and offer opportunity to participate through a variety of options.  This can include, a facilitated restorative justice meeting held between the victim and the child, which is facilitated by a trained certified member of the Somerset Youth Justice Team.  The process allows individuals to talk about the offence, the impact and find a positive way forwards in a controlled and safe environment.  However, in many cases a less formal approach, based on restorative principles, may be more appropriate.

The victim can choose not to become involved in any restorative justice process, and the Youth Justice Team will continue to support the victim throughout the time of their involvement.  Regardless of their level of involvement most of the victims that we work with find that their experiences have helped them to move on from the offence and harm caused.  It has also proven to be an effective method to challenge and change the behaviour of the children we work with.

Volunteers

The Somerset Youth Justice Team has a vibrant and active team of volunteers to support the work of our service.  This includes:

To act as an Appropriate Adult if a child is in police custody, to ensure that the child understands what is happening to them and why.
A Referral Order Panel Member to be involved in agreeing individual and creative programmes of work to support children and address their offending behaviour.
Family Group Conference Volunteers to assist in supporting family members who are vulnerable such as parents with learning difficulties who may struggle to express their views.

For more information visit our volunteering website: Somerset Volunteering – Volunteer opportunities in Somerset

Complaints, Comments and Compliments

The Somerset Youth Justice Team is part of Somerset Council. Whether we have got something right, or could have done something better, we would like to hear what you think of our services.

If you want to inform us of a complaint, comment or compliment please see our Complaints, comments, compliments page.