Youth Offending
The Youth Offending Service (YOS) deals with children and young people under the age of 18 who are either accused of, or convicted of committing a crime.
Plymouth's YOS aims to prevent children and young people, between the ages of 10 and 17 offending by working as a team made up of lots of different professionals including:
- Social workers
- Police officers
- Probation officers
- Drugs and alcohol advisors
- Mental health practitioners
- Education welfare officers
There are a number of reasons a young person might commit a crime and these may include social and family problems, substance misuse problems, truancy or social exclusion. To tackle these and any other issues that may lead to offending behaviour, young people need support to help them make the right life choices.
The needs of each young offender are looked at by using a national assessment tool to spot specific problems and measure the risk they pose to others. It also helps choose programmes to tackle any underlying causes for behaviour with the aim of preventing offending.
The victims of offences are at the heart of the work of the YOS - to reduce the fear of crime and encourage offenders to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends for any harm caused. The role of parents and carers in preventing and reducing criminal offences is another area the YOS promotes.