Youth Justice Service

Camden’s Youth Justice Service (YJS) works with young people, aged 10 to 17, and their families to tackle issues that might lead to offending behaviour, as well as helping to prevent young people at risk of offending from getting involved in crime and jeopardising their future prospects.

• Running local crime prevention programmes and offering voluntary support programmes
• Helping young people and their families at court
• Supervising young people serving a community sentence
• Staying in touch with a young person if they’re sentenced to custody.

Volunteer with our service

Do you have an interest in your local community and youth crime rates? Want to help children make positive changes in their lives? Help victims towards closure? Enhance your own skill set and work experience?
Consider volunteering with us. Camden Youth Justice Service recruits volunteers as Referral Order Panel Members. You will work with children aged 10 to 17 who have attended court for the first time, pleaded guilty to an offence and then sentenced to a Referral Order. The Panels are restorative so you will talk about the issues faced by the child and the experiences of the victim before co-producing a Referral Order agreement with them and their parents / guardians. This will support them in making amends for the harm caused and help prevent them reoffending. This is a rewarding opportunity if you are interested in learning more about why children offend, want to help improve their lives and be creative about what can be put in place to help them in the future.
You must be over 18 to be a volunteer Panel Member and have personal or professional transferable skills to work with children and families, some with complex issues. Full training is provided, as well as support and supervision. For more information or to request an application form, please download our flyer, email
[email protected] or call Jaynita on 020 7974 6582. The closing date for applications is Friday 20 September 2024.

More info and blogs

• A social enterprise, called Honest Grind Coffee, has been launched by Camden Council to help young people gain the skills needed to get into good employment. Honest Grind Coffee is a new social enterprise helping young people to gain valuable work experience by learning about the different stages of coffee production. Visit honest-grind.co.uk to find out more.

• King’s Cross Recruit (KXR) and Camden’s Youth Justice Service have been working in partnership to pilot a flexible work experience programme for 16 to 18-year-olds who are within the youth justice system. Visit the KXR website to find out more.

• My experience as a Youth Justice Service (formerly YOS) Peer Advocate by Suraya Miah - read Suraya's blog on Camden Rise website's news section.

• Written work by Camden young people from the YJS (formerly YOS) - read their articles and poems on Camden Rise website's news section.

You said...we did - feedback and actions 

You can read about how the Youth Justice Service has responded to feedback from young people accessing the service in this short summary document.