Welcome to the Youth Justice Trust

The Trust was set up in 1994 with funding from the Home Office.  Its role was to act as a catalyst in bringing agencies together to tackle youth offending.

Today, the Trust works to promote just and effective solutions to the prevention and reduction of offending by young people by:

*using research and evaluation to influence practice

*helping relevant agencies to use this evidence when working with young people

*communicating the experiences of young people and their understanding of what makes a difference

We believe that the most fair and effective youth justice system puts children first, taking their needs into account.

Using our research into the most effective responses to youth crime, we can assist partner agencies to develop strategies and services for young people which are appropriate, evidence-based, proportionate and just.

                                                                                                                   

Our work falls into 3 categories:

Information

Gathering information, researching a topic or trend, evaluating practice, or recording anecdotal evidence.

Facilitation

Understanding how agencies work together and creating the means for this to happen.  This is done by providing secretariat and policy development to working groups such as the Youth Offending Teams across Greater Manchester; helping to co-ordinate responses to issues or simply putting the right people in touch with one another

Innovation

Achieving crime reduction and prevention through sharing best practice or developing new ways of working.  Examples of this would be the work of the pre-court group, which examines how best to divert young people from the criminal justice system, or the work of the accommodation forum, which looks at how practitioners across the region are dealing with the problems of housing and young people who are in trouble.

Central to all of these 3 areas is the need for communication.  The Trust acts as a focal point in the region for finding out what is happening and letting people know about it.

Contact us at:

Youth Justice Trust
4th Floor, Cheetwood House
21 Newton Street
MANCHESTER M1 1FZ

Tel  0161 233 6800

or contact us by e-mailing mags.casey@youth-justice-trust.org.uk