Youth Justice Partnership

Our youth justice workers work with partner agencies to support young people. These include:

• children’s services
• education
• substance misuse services
• health
• police
• probation

We also have access to qualified health workers who can offer advice and support around physical, emotional and mental health. They also give advice on how to reduce drug use.

We work together to provide a service based on the need of the young person.

Each young person who comes to the attention of the service is assessed to identify their own vulnerabilities, the risk of re-offending and the risk of them harming others.

The assessment is used to help plan work with the young person and his or her family. This is to reduce risks and promote the young person’s development and wellbeing.

The service makes sure that if young people are vulnerable, it works with the right people to make them safe.

Some young people may go to court and have sentences either in the community or in secure establishments. Either way, we will work with the young person to help them complete the sentence successfully.

We work with children aged 10 to 18 to prevent them becoming involved in anti-social behaviour or offending.

We also work with children when they:

• have been arrested
• receive community resolutions, cautions and youth conditional cautions
• are on bail or remand
• appear in court and a report is requested
• are sentenced to a criminal court order in the community
• receive a custodial sentence
• are arrested and enter a prevention programme
• court order has ended but they need support to get back on track
• are involved in drugs or alcohol and are at risk of being prosecuted for this or suffering harm
• are identified as at risk of offending or committing anti-social behaviour

To do this we:

• provide a service to the police and the courts that is responsive to local need, and works in partnership to address youth offending in North Lincolnshire as effectively as possible
• provide a fast response to all young people who have offended or are at risk of offending. This is done by providing the interventions, help and support needed to prevent the situation getting worse, stop their offending and keep them safe
• encourage our young people to make amends to their victims and the community
• develop activities that increase opportunities for young people that will help them stop committing crime and avoid more serious offending whilst improving their options and life chances
• help young people and their families take responsibility for what has happened
• help young people get back into education, training or employment so that they can stay out of trouble, achieve their potential and become adults who are a valued part of society and no longer involved with crime
• prevent young people going to custody when they can be safely managed in the community

The Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board meets quarterly and its statutory partners contribute resources financially, and in kind, towards delivery of youth justice services.

The Board oversees strategic management, funding arrangements, partnership working and access to partner agency services. It receives quarterly management reports and monitors staffing arrangements, generic workforce issues, and specific projects. The Board also oversees action plans, policies, procedures and partnership protocols.

The  Youth Justice Plan 2024-25  sets out youth justice provision in North Lincolnshire.

Priorities for 2024/2025 are:

• Improve the quality of statutory work.
• Reduction in child exploitation and serious youth violence.
• Specific provision for speech language and communication for Youth Justice Partnership children to be explored.
• Improve the engagement in education, employment and training for children and young people involved with the Youth Justice Partnership.
• Improve the emotional and physical health of children involved with youth justice.
• Embed the diversity strategy.

To find out more about the youth justice system please visit the Youth Justice Board website.