The Merton Youth Justice Service (YJS) aims to prevent and reduce youth offending within the borough. The service is a partnership made up of these agencies:
- Metropolitan Police
- Regional Primary Care Trust
- London Probation
- Merton's Social Care, Youth Inclusion and Education Services
- Catch22 Risk and Resilience
We also work closely with:
- Safer Merton
- Wimbledon Youth Court
- Voluntary groups
- Tackling Exploitation Team
What we do
- Supervise young people who are subject to Court Orders and on release from Detention and Training Orders
- Support young people who've been arrested for the first-time on low-level offences to prevent re-offending
- Provide services to parents to help them manage the behaviour of their children
- Assess and manage young people who are at risk of reoffending or causing harm
- Provide services at courts including presenting court reports to magistrates and judges, giving advice on remands, risk and bail assessments and community orders
- Provide programmes and activities to young people who have offended or at risk of offending
- Support young people to engage in creative and helpful activities designed to repair the harm they've caused (this is called Reparation)
- Give victims the chance to explain the impact of a crime to the young person through restorative justice approaches
- Co-ordinate joint multi-agency initiatives in response to government policy and directives
- Ensure volunteers are available to young people held in custody in a Police Station are treated in accordance with their rights and understand what is happening
The Youth Justice Service includes a range of workers who deliver these services:
- Case Practitioners (social workers, probation officers and youth specialist workers) who are responsible for the delivery of the order and will support young people to think about how they can move on with their future without offending
- Police Officers who ensure pre-court outcomes are delivered in a timely manner and support the team with risk management plans
- Forensic Psychologist who can offer specialist sessions to young people about their emotions, stress, past trauma and anger
- Education practitioner who can support young people with their education, training or employment (including CVs and interviews)
- Reparation and Victim officer who liaises with victims to see if they would like to have a voice in the young person's plan and delivers creative activities to help young people think about how they can repair the harm to community and victims.
- Catch22 Substance misuse workers who can support young people with understanding the impact of harm from alcohol or drugs and put in place a plan to reduce their use.
- Speech and Language Therapist who delivers specialist sessions with young people to help them with their communication and understanding
- Nurse who can assess young people's physical health and provide strategies for sleep, diet and access to health services.
- Parenting officer / Family therapist who can support parents to understand their child's behaviour and recognise their strengths to support their child's future.
The Liaison and Diversion service is a part of the Youth Justice Service and offers early opportunities to identify young people at risk from or on the edge of the criminal justice system and to liaise with local services who could help diver the young person into more positive pathways. The service can also offer brief interventions such as counselling and anger management.
See also
Contact us
Youth Justice Service
2nd Floor Annex, Civic Centre
London Road
Morden SM4 5DX
Telephone: 020 8274 4949
Email: YOS_TEAM@merton.gov.uk
