ABSTRACT
The old system has allowed young offenders to wreck their lives as well as disrupting families and communities. Young offenders have escaped facing up to their crimes for too long.2
The pace of activity, innovation and change within the youth justice system on the cusp of the next millennium is incredible. Keeping up with all the current changes in the youth justice system feels a little like climbing that elusive mountain and never quite making it to the top – every time you reach the peak, another one looms up ahead. Or, if you prefer football analogies (as I must confess I do), it is all a bit like making it to the top of your Sunday football league, only to find that a whole new division has been created ahead of you. However, as someone once said about football, ‘It’s a game of two halves’. So perhaps it is with youth justice. We’ve all emerged from the first half that was the old youth justice system, several goals down – with rising youth crime rates, lengthy court processes and high rates of youth custody – and some of them, let’s face it, are own goals. But we now have the second half ahead of us and it is already looking like a completely different ball game.
For a start, the team has got a new name – the Youth Offending Team (YOT). There is a new manager – the Youth Justice Board. There are new funding opportunities and we are in a far stronger position to be proactive about tackling youth crime. It is challenging stuff, but it is also an incredibly exciting time to be involved in the youth justice system.
