Continuing the Young Person’s Journey

A new resource aimed directly at children and young people who have been charged by the police has been introduced by the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice (CYCJ) and Iriss.

Journey through Justice is an interactive online resource that will help children and young people understand the journey through the youth justice system, following being charged with an offence by the police. The name of the resource, as well as its look and content, was devised by young people from a number of settings, working closely with CYCJ and Iriss.

Journey through Justice is a development of Youth & Criminal Justice in Scotland: The Young Person’s Journey, which aims to simplify how the youth and criminal justice system works for under 18s in Scotland. This has received an update for 2017.

Claire Lightowler, Director of CYCJ, said:

“We firmly believe that the resources we produce for young people require their direct input in order to be truly effective in helping them through difficult times. That’s why we involved young people from the start of the Journey through Justice process, to find out what they would like to get out of it and what would work best for them. We hope that it will be a useful support to young people faced with going through the justice system, helping them to understand what is happening and why.”

The Young Person’s Journey was officially launched in January 2016, in response to a growing awareness that young people are often confused about court processes and the experience of being taken into custody. Although feedback from young people and practitioners has been extremely positive, it was identified that the resource was not always easily accessible to young people wanting to gain information on the youth justice system. The response was to create Journey through Justice.

Young people will be made aware of Journey through Justice via postcards in police stations, social work waiting rooms, schools and other relevant places. Practitioners will also be asked to bring this valuable resource to young people’s attention.

Both resources have been developed in conjunction with the following organisations: Iriss, Scottish Prison Service, The Scottish Government, SOLD, Families Outside, St. Mary’s Kenmure, RMA, NHS Forth Valley, Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum,North Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, Kibble and The Good Shepherd Centre.

CYCJ will be adding to Journey through Justice as further resources become available. If you have any feedback or links you would like to add, please contact cycj@strath.ac.uk.

Contact Us

Children's and Young People's Centre for Justice
University of Strathclyde
Lord Hope Building, Level 6
141 St. James Road Glasgow G4 0LT

(0141) 444 8622

cycj@strath.ac.uk

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