The Youth and Criminal Justice in Scotland: the young person’s journey is an online resource that aims to simplify how the youth and criminal justice system works for under 18s in Scotland.
Developed by Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ) in partnership with Iriss and in consultation with a multi-disciplinary working group, The Young Person’s Journey takes the form of a clickable ‘map’ that details and explains the entirety of the journey a young person can make from an offence allegedly being committed: routes to court, court processes and sentencing; stages in the journey should a young person be remanded or sentenced to secure care or custody or sentenced to a community disposal; and post-sentence support.
Feedback from young people has been extremely encouraging – one young person stated that he “enjoyed watching the short video, navigating his way through ‘the journey’’ and compared this to his own experiences of being in secure care/custody. A third sector organisation described the resource as ‘A very detailed and worthwhile tool…. useful as a learning tool for workers to support their understanding of the system, which would in turn increase their ability to support those who have been through the system’. They also recognised that it would be valuable for workers to act as the interface between the tool and a young person, helping to interpret it and draw their attention to areas most applicable to them.
By providing a condensed outline of the essential information alongside links to more detailed information, this resource can be used by young people, their families, and professionals across disciplines and at different organisational levels. CYCJ has committed to updating this resource annually in order to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information.
