About the YJB
Prevention
One of the most effective ways to reduce youth crime is to prevent young people from getting into trouble in the first place.
There are some problems that make it more likely that children or young people will commit crime or anti-social behaviour. These risk factors include:
- a lack, or exclusion, of education
- poor family relationships
- having family members or peers who have offended
- substance misuse.
The YJB has developed and funded a range of early intervention and diversionary schemes that tackle the underlying problems, as listed above, that exist in a young person’s life, which may lead them to commit crime or anti-social behaviour. The programmes aim to engage young people's interests from an early stage, increase their knowledge and consequently divert them from offending, and include:
- the Youth Inclusion Programme, which works with those young people who are most at risk of offending and runs positive activities that can open up new opportunities for them
- Youth Inclusion and Support Panels, which help YOTs and other local and national agencies to identify the problems affecting each young person and tackle them in a targeted way.
Some schemes make use of restorative justice principles, in order to help young people understand the impact of offending and learn what behaviour is acceptable to their peers and the community.
By influencing policy, identifying effective practice, and commissioning research on risk factors and how to tackle them, the YJB makes it’s position clear - that the welfare needs of young people, be it education or accommodation, directly affect the likelihood that they will offend or commit anti-social behaviour.