Youth justice practitioner

This occupation is found in Youth Offending Services within Local Authorities. It is also relevant to practitioners working in voluntary sector organisations providing youth justice interventions.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to work with children who have offended or are at risk of offending, and by using evidence-based interventions promote their desistance from offending or divert them from the youth justice system. (Desistance is the professional term for the process of how someone with a previous pattern of offending comes to abstain from crime. The role is undertaken within a statutory framework specific to children aged 10 – 17 (and occasionally those aged 18) and subject to Standards for Children in the Youth Justice System, set by the Secretary of State for Justice on the advice of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) for England and Wales.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with children up to the age of 17/18 involved in offending or anti-social behaviour. They work with some of the most disadvantaged children in our society who often have multiple and complex needs. They will also interact regularly with families. All youth justice practitioners work within a complex multi-agency and multi-disciplinary context. They will work alongside social workers, probation officers, police officers, youth workers, educational and health staff and with child and adolescent mental health staff in their immediate teams. Youth justice practitioners also work closely with court staff and need to understand how the courts (in particular the Youth Court) operate and specific legislation relevant to children. Youth justice practitioners will need to interact with staff from the secure estate. The secure estate comprises Young Offender Institutions, Secure Training Centres, Secure Children’s Homes and Secure Schools. These are all subject to different legislation and referral criteria, and the roles of care staff working in them will vary. They will also need to interact with staff from other services specific to children – schools and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, for example. Youth justice practitioners in both the community and secure establishments will need to collaborate in order to facilitate children’s resettlement when they are released.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the effective supervision of children in contact with the youth justice system. Practitioners will function largely autonomously to engage with children, their families and other professionals in order to assess their needs using mandatory YJB tools; develop youth justice intervention plans; and review and monitor progress. The cases they manage are often complex, involving children experiencing mental health difficulties, substance misuse problems and/or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Many of these children will also be experiencing difficult family situations and face safeguarding issues pertinent to youth justice, e.g. abuse, radicalisation, child sexual exploitation (CSE), Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) and involvement in gangs. Youth justice practitioners are responsible for making decisions which affect the lives of children that are evidence-based, ethical and defensible. They will also be responsible for promoting the safety and wellbeing of the children they work with; protecting the public and victims of crime; and making rapid risk assessments about their own safety. They will report to an Operational Manager and have formal supervisions to discuss their decision-making and reflect on the outcomes of their work. The amount and regularity of supervision will vary between organisations. Many practitioners will have responsibilities for specific areas of youth justice work – education, intensive supervision and surveillance or substance misuse, for example. They will advise other staff in these areas, carry out additional specialist assessments and lead on new initiatives.