Practicing Participation inYouth Justice

Peta HallsDevelopment Officer

National Youth Agency

• Our mission: enabling youth workers to transform lives

• Our focus: NYA helps youth workers to transform the lives of young people in three ways:– By championing the distinctive role that youth workers

can play– By enabling youth workers to do what they do, better– By helping to professionalise youth work.

NYA participation definition:

Children and young people have a right to be involved in the decisions that affect them; their participation is essential to improve services and respond to their needs, and the shared aim of their participation should be change.

NYA participation work

• HbR participation standards framework and HbR awards scheme

• Voice and Influence in the Youth Justice System (2010)

• Impact and Effectiveness of Participation in the Youth Justice System (2011)

• Positive Participation Youth Justice Training (2011)

Policy and Legal Context

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

• Children’s Act 2004• YJB National Standards for Youth Justice

(2009)• Positive for Youth (2011)

Positive Participation:Youth Justice Training

• Free training resource to raise awareness of participation in the youth justice system

• Provides an understanding of:– participation in the youth justice system;– the benefits; – the legal and policy context;– practical steps to engage with young people to

increase their participation;– and develop plans to improve participation.

Positive Participation:Youth Justice Training

• Training designed to be delivered by and to YOT practitioners

• This training resource covers the following elements:– Section 1 – What is participation?– Section 2 – Why bother?– Section 3 – Participation and engagement– Section 4 – Participation – next steps

Positive Participation:Youth Justice Training

• Exercises:– Section 1 - What is participation?

• 1.1 Human Bingo– Section 2 - Why bother?

• 2.4 What’s in it for you?– Section 4 – Participation next steps

• 4.1 Takeaway Menu

www.nya.org.uk/targeted-youth-services/community-safety-and-

youth-justice