Children and young people

It is the duty of all agencies to try to reduce offending behaviour under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Medway Youth Offending Service is a partnership of voluntary and statutory agencies overseen by the Youth Justice Board.

Medway Youth Offending Team (YOT) is staffed by a multi-agency team working with children and young people who have demonstrated or are at risk of developing anti-social behaviour. The team includes officers from Kent Police, Kent Probation Service, Medway Primary Care Trust, Kent and Medway Connexions Service as well as staff from Medway Council's Children's Care Services.

The team works closely with young people and their families to provide an early intervention service to curtail anti-social behaviour and to prevent crime. It assists victims of crime and where appropriate, includes them in the youth justice process to take part in a restorative justice programme. YOT workers also provide intensive supervision and surveillance programmes for persistent young offenders and operate effective plans for preparing young people to return into the community from custody and reduce the risk of them re-offending.

The parenting programmes provided by Medway YOT offer practical support and advice to enhance the skills of parents and thus reduce the risk of their children offending or re-offending. In 2006, the team worked with 402 boys and 58 girls who committed 742 offences in Medway. This includes those requiring preventative services, supervision while on community-based court orders and the support of 14 young people who had been sent to custody.

Further information is available on the YOT section of the Medway Positive Parenting Network website: www.medwayppn.org and on the Youth Justice Board website: www.yjb.gov.uk.

^ (back to top)