Youth Justice Agency
The Youth Justice Agency was launched as an Executive
Agency,
as recommended in the Criminal Justice Review 2000, on 1 April 2003. It replaced the former Juvenile
Justice Board.
The principal aim of the Youth Justice Agency is to reduce
youth crime and to build confidence in the youth justice system. The Agency works with children aged
10-17 years who have offended or are at serious risk of offending.
The
Agency provides a range of services, often delivered in partnership with others, to help children to
address their offending behaviour, divert them from crime, assist their integration into the community
and to meet the needs of victims of crime.
In direct support of the front-line
services delivered by the Youth Justice Services and Custodial Services directorates, a Business Improvement
directorate has been established with responsibility for researching best practice in working with young
people who offend, disseminating this to practice staff and developing and implementing practice guidance
and standards for the Agency which are evidence-based and which will contribute towards young people
desisting from offending. This directorate also formulates the Youth Justice Agency's responses to external
consultations and drafts internal policy for delivery by Youth Justice Services.
A
Corporate Services directorate provides a range of support functions to the operational strands of the
Agency - including the management and delivery of personnel, finance, business planning, information
technology, statistics & research and estate management - on behalf of the Chief Executive
Policy
Youth
justice policy is separate from the functions of the Agency and is one of the responsibilities of the
Department.
Equality
Section 75 of the
Northern Ireland
Act 1998 requires public authorities to promote equality of opportunity and good relations. These duties
are designed, in particular, to ensure that equality issues are integral to the whole range of public
policy decision making.
Human Rights
In
carrying out its
duties, the Agency will strive to protect the human rights of all those with whom it comes into contact.
Children will receive the highest standards of care while they are with us
