City Volunteering

Volunteering in the Youth Justice Service

We talk about what the Youth Justice Service is, what kind of volunteer roles are available, and how you can get involved in your local YJS.

What is the Youth Justice Service?

The Youth Justice Service (formerly known as the Youth Offending Service) is comprised of professionals from different agencies who work to prevent children and young people from entering the youth justice system for the first time and supporting them to move away from offending.

The Youth Justice Resource Hub has emphasised the importance of volunteers in providing the backbone of many youth justice services. In order to volunteer with the youth justice service, you must first get in touch with your local service, run by your borough council. Within Greater London, all 31 London boroughs have their own youth justice service: you can find yours here. Different boroughs will have different local partnerships and outreach services, so it is important to speak to them to find out what roles they are currently offering. You must live or work in the borough to volunteer there and be prepared to take part in intensive training and commit.

Volunteering in the YJS is ideal for students looking to pursue a career in Law, public service, health and social care, mental health, youth work, charity and campaigning.

What kind of roles might be available to me?

Mentor

Mentoring involves supporting children with their personal development and confidence. This might include engaging in their education and employment or just being a regular, familiar face to check in during difficult times. As a mento, you’ll provide 1-2-1 support for a child, and as a result this helps support the child away from some of the negative experiences that increase the risk of them entering the youth justice system. The roles tend to be very flexible, with mentoring sessions taking place when you are available, but they do require a regular commitment of usually at least 6 months in order to foster a trusting relationship.

Youth offender panel member

Youth offender panels are meetings where children that have offended and received a Referral Order, their parents/carers, victims, and members of the community have a chance to come together to discuss what support the child might need to assist in their desistence journey and empower the voices of the victim(s). Panel members are trained to meet with the children and their parents/carers to talk about what happened and start considering the impact on the victim(s) and the community. Volunteers may spend about 3 hours a fortnight working on the panel, which tends to take place after school/work.

Appropriate adult

Appropriate adults safeguard the interests of children and young people who are detained or interviewed by the police as a suspect. Usually, this is a parent, carer or another family member, but where this isn’t possible youth justice services provide a trained Appropriate Adult. The main role is to ensure the child understands their rights and can participate in the process. You don’t give legal advice, but you would receive training on issues facing children, children’s rights, mental health and learning disabilities, communicating with vulnerable people, and dealing with challenging behaviours.

Independent Monitoring Board member

The Board is made up of volunteers who meet with children to help monitor aspects of their life in custody, such as their living conditions. They ensure standards are maintained and identify any concerns and discuss them at board meetings. The expected commitment is around 2-3 days a month. You can find out more here.

How do I start?

The following boroughs are recruiting for volunteers in their youth offending services:

Barnet - call 020 8359 5501 or email cezar.tan@barnet.gov.uk

Brent – call 020 8937 3810 or email james.salter@brent.gov.uk

Bromley - email youthoffendingservice@bromley.gov.uk

Camden – this is a slightly different voluntary role providing mosaic workshops for those going through the youth justice service. Email info@lsomosaic.com. For the YJS email tim.cosh@camden.gov.uk

Ealing - email yjsvolunteering@ealing.gov.uk

Enfield – email yos_volunteers@enfield.gov.uk

Hammersmith and Fulham - email yot_admin@lbhf.gov.uk

Harrow – email chloe.lee@harrow.gov.uk

Havering - email earlyhelpvolunteer@havering.gov.uk

Hillingdon – email sabdulhadi@hillingdon.gov.uk

Hounslow - email youthoffendingservice@hounslow.gov.uk

Islington - email YOS.ReferralOrder@islington.gov.uk

Kensington & Chelsea – email fcsyouthoffending@rbkc.gov.cjsm.net

Lambeth - apply via this form

Lewisham – yosvolunteers@lewisham.gov.uk

Redbridge – email yos.admin@redbridge.gov.uk