Youth Justice

Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)

Youth Offending Teams were established in 2002 to improve the operation of the youth justice systems by encouraging the four core agencies, Police, Child, Youth and Family, Health and Education, to talk to each other, identify local issues, and solve problems together.

Currently there are 32 Youth Offending Teams situated throughout the country. Click here for the location and contacts of Youth Offending Teams.

The Youth Justice Leadership Group (a group of senior officials from the relevant National offices) and positions in the Ministry’s Youth Justice Team were established, in part, to support the efforts of the local Youth Offending Teams.

The Youth Justice Leadership Group provides a forum for practitioners to raise their local issues and seek a cross-agency solution.

The Ministry’s Youth Justice team has two full-time staff members dedicated to supporting Youth Offending Teams, including collating and analysing monthly reporting forms to identify national trends, reports on successful local initiatives, and identifying issues to be raised at the Youth Justice Leadership Group meetings.

To read more information on Youth Offending Teams click here.