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Youth Justice Agency launches a joined-up approach to tackling youth crime in Magherafelt (24/01/2007)
The Youth Justice Agency today celebrated the launch of two services which together deliver a joined-up approach to tackling youth crime in the Magherafelt area.The first was the official opening of its Youth Justice Community Services premises in Magherafelt.
Part of a network of 24 other child related services operating across Northern Ireland, Community Services is responsible for the delivery of effective locally based intervention services targeted at young people in conflict with the law.
Working with other support agencies within the region Community Services focuses on helping the child, their family and the local communities from which they come from by engaging directly with the children to prevent offending.
Speaking at the official opening Michaela Murray, Project Manager, Youth Justice Community Services Magherafelt said:
“We do not work in isolation but combine our efforts with other statutory and voluntary agencies to provide the best service possible. Working in partnership with these agencies we are able to fulfil our obligations to the individual needs of the children within their own communities.”
At the event the Youth Justice Agency also launched the extension of its Youth Conference Service throughout the local area.
From December 2006, the Youth Courts and the Public Prosecution Service in the Magherafelt area have been empowered to make referrals to the Youth Conference Service as a means of disposal.
The Youth Conference Service facilitates conferences between victims of youth crime, young offenders, their families, and the police youth diversion officer. A conference can also include community, business or public sector representatives, depending on the nature of the offence and its wider impact.
In the conference, the victim can tell the offender face-to-face about the impact of the offence. The conference will also explore reasons why the young person committed the offence and agree a number of commitments for the offender to undertake in order to make amends and to address their offending behaviour.
Commenting on the launch of the Service, Mary Jo McAllister, Assistant Director, Youth Conference Service said; “We are keen to increase participation by members of the local community who are willing to share their views on how crime affects the area and can offer effective solutions to help prevent it.
“We are making links with the local Police, the Community Safety Partnership, the District Policing Partnership, the business sector and local community and voluntary organisations to raise the awareness of the work of the Youth Conference Service and to source possible opportunities for reparation in the local area,” she continued.
The Youth Conference Service and Youth Justice Community Services are both directorates of the Youth Justice Agency, which also encompasses the Juvenile Justice Centre for Northern Ireland. The Agency aims to protect the public by preventing offending and re-offending by children and encouraging young people to recognise the effects of their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. It has a vision of having the lowest youth offending rates in the European Union by 2011.
- ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Community Services Information
- The Youth Justice Community Services Magherafelt provides services to the Mid Ulster region, it endeavours to provide a multi-model, relationship based systemic service aimed at preventing offending. It uses child centred, family focused and community based interventions to empower the Youth Justice Agency’s clients to take responsibility for their actions and make informed decisions regarding their future.
- Programmes of work are tailored to meet the individual needs, incorporating Individual and family work, educational support and accreditation, group work and diversionary activities and provide links to other support services.
- Within the project staff endeavour to work with children using a range of different mediums thus addressing their needs at an appropriate level.
- The work is not completed in isolation but is a combined effort by statutory and voluntary agencies to provide best service. The Youth Justice Agency Community Services directorate works in partnership with these agencies effectively to fulfil its obligations to the identified needs of the children within their own communities.
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