Youth Justice System
Targeted Prevention of Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
One of the best and most cost-effective ways to reduce youth crime is to prevent young people from getting into trouble in the first place, by dealing with the problems that make it more likely they will commit crime or anti-social behaviour. Early intervention to prevent young people offending could save public services more than £80 million a year, according to the Audit Commission's report Youth Justice 2004: A Review of the Reformed Youth Justice System [opens in new window].
Problems that may lead to a young person's troublesome behaviour include a lack of education, poor family relationships, having family members or peers who have offended, and misuse of substances. See the YJB research Risk and Protective Factors for more information both on risk factors and on the other factors that may reduce the chance of a young person offending.
The following programmes aim to deal with risk factors, engage young people’s interests and increase their knowledge. Click to read more about them.
We also support the following initiatives - click to go to these external websites.