National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010

 

To read the National Youth Justice Strategy, please click here 

To read the address by the Minister for Children at the launch of the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010, please click here

Minister for Children launches National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010

Thursday, 27 March 2008 

Farmleigh House, Dublin

The Minister for Children, Mr Brendan Smith TD, today launched the National Youth Justice Strategy for 2008-2010. The Strategy focuses on children who have already had some contact with the criminal justice system.

The aim of the Strategy is to provide a partnership approach among agencies working in the youth justice system. It includes a number of goals and targets for IYJS and other agencies to help measure progress and to assess where available resources should be targeted.

Speaking at the launch of the Strategy in Farmleigh, the Minister said: ‘The purpose of the National Youth Justice Strategy is to develop a co-ordinated approach among agencies working in the youth justice system over the next three years. I am convinced that the Strategy lays strong foundations for the continued development of a successful youth justice system focused on reducing offending and improving outcomes for both young people and our community.’

The Strategy was developed in consultation with a number of key stakeholders including Government Departments and agencies. The Minister said 'The co-operation that went into the preparation of this Strategy is testament to the joined-up Government approach in the youth justice sector.'

Based on the principles of the Children Act, 2001 and the Government’s decision to reform the youth justice area, the Strategy contains five high level goals:

1. To provide leadership and build public confidence in the youth justice system;
2. To work to reduce offending by diverting young people from offending behaviour;
3. To promote the greater use of community sanctions and initiatives to deal with young people who offend;
4. To provide a safe and secure environment for detained children which will assist their early re-integration into the community;
5. To strengthen and develop information and data sources in the youth justice system to support more effective policies and services.

‘The Strategy will be progressed at a national level by the National Youth Justice Oversight Group, which I have established in order to facilitate the cross-agency collaboration needed. The group will include representatives of key stakeholders involved in the Strategy’s implementation, including the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS). At local level, where appropriate, Youth Justice Teams will be established as sub-groups of Children’s Services Committees to enhance delivery of outcomes for the children concerned’ concluded Minister Smith.

 

Ends

 

Note:

National Youth Justice Oversight Group members: Ms Sylda Langford (chair), Director General of the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC); Ms Michelle Shannon, National Director of the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS); Mr Aidan Browne, CEO of the Children Acts Advisory Board (CAAB); Ms Mary Doyle, Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Taoiseach; Mr Hugh Kane from the Health Service Executive (HSE); Assistant Commissioner Louis Harkin of An Garda Síochána; and Mr Paddy McDonagh, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education and Science.