Youth Justice

Children and young people who become involved in offending are often some of the most vulnerable in our society.  They have often had traumatic experiences in early childhood, such as bereavement, abuse or neglect and become involved in offending behaviour due to a broad range of reasons.

In South Lanarkshire, we seek to work together towards preventing offending.  When a child or young person does become involved in offending, we will strive to intervene early to ensure the needs of that child, young person and family are met and offending behaviour is addressed and there are often other issues with which they require support.  Where a child or young person is presenting as at high risk, we aim to ensure that multi-agency interventions are targeted to deal with high risk robustly and work on the premise that public protection is of paramount concern.

Preventing offending and dealing with offending behaviour in children and young people requires relationship-based intervention, early and individually taliored support and partnership working and engagement across all agencies.  We need to ensure that working with children and young people involved in, or at risk of, offending is prioritised and is high on the agenda of all services and individuals involved with children and young people in South Lanarkshire.  We need to work togethter to ensure that, in line with Scottish Government policy, children and young people are offered the right support at the right time which is outcome focused and based on each indviduals needs.

We know that a preventative approach results in the best chances of reducing crime, improving life chances and makes good use of public resources.  Timely, appropriate and effective interventions are necessary to address offending behaviour in children and young people and ensure communities and children stay safe from crime.

Youth Justice services are provided generally by Children and Families social work staff who are based in local offices.

Useful resources

Youth Justice Strategy and Action Plan 2017-2020

Youth Justice Strategy and Action Plan Presentation

More information can be found in Youth Justice Procedures