Isle of Wight Council

Youth Offending Team

Isle of Wight Youth Offending Team

Overview

The Youth Offending Team (YOT) is a multi-agency organisation supervising children and young people aged 10 to17 years. The YOT aims to reduce offending and re-offending by children and young people. It was set up as a result of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Key partners include: 

  • Health,

  • Education,

  • Police,

  • Probation,

  • Social Care.

Under the Act, it is the responsibility of each local authority to ensure that Youth Justice Services are available in their area.  The Act also sets out the principal aim of the Youth Justice System. The aim is to prevent offending by children and young people and establish the Youth Justice Board (YJB) which oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales.

Each local authority must have at least one YOT which works to tackle the issues associated with youth crime. Local authorities must also ensure an annual Youth Justice Plan is available. The Youth Justice Plan outlines how services will be delivered.

Isle of Wight Youth Offending Team

The YOT supervise children and young people who are subject to out of court disposals issued by Police and those subject to both community and custodial sentences imposed by the Courts. Through an ongoing process of assessment, intervention and review the YOT aims to identify and then address the factors which have contributed to a young person’s offending behaviour.

The YOT work with parents of young people who have offended. This is to ensure an appropriate level of support and intervention is offered to them alongside any work done with the individual young person. Additionally, we provide victim contact and restorative justice services to the victims of youth crime.

Providing a wide range of interventions to children, young people and their families the aim is to support them in moving away from offending behaviour and achieve more positive outcomes. Working with key partners and other agencies, we seek to provide a high quality service. This service takes into account individual factors whilst providing a wide range of resources in which the public can have confidence to deliver.

Volunteering

Members of the local community can contribute to this work through a range of volunteering opportunities. Full training, support and reasonable expenses are provided. Interest is invited from all sectors of the community. Volunteers must be over the age of 18.

If you feel that you have something to contribute to the work of the YOT, please apply by completing a volunteer application form.