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Youth crime prevention programmes - what they’re for

There are lots of youth crime prevention programmes that deal with young people who have either been in trouble, or are ‘at risk of offending’.

Being ‘at risk of offending’ means that it looks like you might commit a crime. This is even if you haven’t been officially told off by the police or charged with a crime before.

Problems that could put you at risk of offending include:

• problems at school
• problems at home
• having family members or people around who have offended
• problems with alcohol or drugs

If you are sent on a youth crime prevention programme, it will usually deal with some or all of these problems. It all depends on what you have done, and what your background is.

The aim is to give you as much help as possible to stay out of trouble.

• What can happen if a young person is not charged with a crime

• If a young person is taken to a police station

• Health and relationships

How you get put on a crime prevention programme

You can be sent - or ‘referred’ - to one of these programmes in lots of ways. Your school, a social worker or even your parents could refer you. Usually you will be referred by the police or the youth offending team.

Most youth crime prevention programmes are run by the council’s local youth offending team. They may also be run by other local organisations like youth charities

Assessments by the youth offending team

Before anything happens, the youth offending team will do an assessment. This will make sure that sending you on one of these programmes is the right thing to do. You will be involved in the assessment and you’ll be asked quite a few questions about your life and your background.

This information will help decide which type of programme would help you the most. Attending one of these programmes is voluntary. You and your parents or carers have to be happy with everything as you go along.

• Youth offending teams: what they are

What crime prevention programmes are like

Crime prevention programmes all have different names, and they do different things. Some of them mean you will be in groups with other young people, and sometimes it will just be you and another adult.

Youth inclusion programmes

Youth inclusion programmes - or YIPs - are for 8 to 17 year-olds. They give you somewhere safe where you can learn new skills, take part in activities with others and get school or jobs advice.

They can last for set lengths of time, or you can keep on going for as long as you need to.

Youth inclusion and support panels

Youth inclusion and support panels - or YISPs - are for 8 to 13 year olds. The panels are made up of people from your local community - for example, schools, social services and the police. They work with you and your family to come up with ways of helping you stay out of trouble. This will be called an ‘intervention plan’, and it is something that everyone must agree on, including yourself.

SPLASH Cymru

In Wales, these programmes are run during the school holidays. The programmes are for 13 to 17 year olds and involve various activities to help keep young people away from crime and bad behaviour.

Mentoring

A mentor is a specially trained person who volunteers to spend time helping you. They are there to encourage and support you, and help you deal with any problems you might have. They will be someone you can rely on and talk to in private, and won’t be connected to the police or your school.

You’ll work out some things you’d like to achieve, like doing better at school, and the mentor will help you do that. This doesn’t happen quickly - you have to get to know each other well, so you could be with your mentor for a long time.

Sometimes this is a much better way to help young people in trouble than sending them on an activity programme. You’ll be given a mentor if it’s right for you.

Involving parents and families

If you get into trouble, your parents or carers might be asked to go on a parenting programme. Usually, they will be asked to attend voluntarily, but sometimes they will have to go. These courses are about helping their confidence in being a parent, and making sure that nothing they’re doing is making you get into trouble.

How these programmes work changes from person to person. Any programme will be done in a way that’s right for you and your parents.

• What can happen to you if your child gets into trouble with the law (parents section)