Youth Justice Blueprint for Wales

The Youth Justice Blueprint for Wales outlines how the police should safeguard young people.

Under the Youth Justice Blueprint for Wales (Welsh Government, 2019), the police must adopt a child rights approach where young people are treated as children first and offenders second.

The Youth Justice Blueprint for Wales has six main principles:

1. prevention
2. pre-court diversion
3. community
4. custody
5. resettlement and transition
6. system oversight.

Prevention

To prevent young people from offending, services must work together to deliver interventions focused on young people who are looked after, excluded from school, or homeless.

Pre-court diversion

Existing diversions should be used to divert first-time offenders away from the youth justice system. This requires effective partnership working, so that the police inform the Youth Justice Service when young people receive community resolutions.

Community

All services need a trauma-informed approach. This should include enhanced case management delivered by practitioners who have received training in working with trauma.

Custody

Similarly, young people should be placed in secure accommodation in Wales, close to their communities. This provision should be based on trauma-informed best practice, and should include the delivery of high quality education, training, and health and mental health support.

Resettlement and transition

Constructive resettlement should enable consistant, co-ordinated, collaborative work with young people. This includes transitions from child to adult services, as well as transitions between services, such as health services and substance misuse services.

System oversight

There should be clear oversight and partnership working across different parts of the system. This includes strengthening partnerships between the Youth Justice Service, Youth Custody Service, and the Prison and Probation Service Wales.