There are various prevention programmes that work to keep young people away from crime. They are run within local communities, and can involve parents and families.

Young people are placed on these programmes if:

• they have been in trouble with the police
• they’re 'at risk' of committing a crime
• they’re involved in anti-social behaviour

Attending one of these programmes is voluntary. The young person and their parents or carers have to be happy with everything before it starts.

Many programmes are run by the council's local youth offending team or by other local organisations like youth charities.

To find out about youth crime prevention programmes in your area, contact your local youth offending team.

Young people are usually sent - or 'referred' - to one of these programmes by the police or the youth offending team.

However, they can also be referred by a teacher, social worker or parent.

Assessment - making sure it’s the right programme

Before anything happens, the youth workers running the prevention programme will assess the young person to:

• make sure a prevention programme will help
• decide which type of support will be most suitable

The young person will be involved in the assessment and will be asked questions about their life and background.

Youth crime prevention programmes have different names and do different things, but they all involve activities to help keep young people away from crime. Young people can also learn new skills or get advice about school or jobs.

Some are run in groups while others are for just one young person supervised by an adult.

Two of the main prevention programmes are ‘youth inclusion programmes’ and ‘youth inclusion and support panels’, although there are many others.

Youth inclusion programmes

These are for 8 to 17 year-olds and usually last for set lengths of time, eg 6 months. Sometimes a young person can attend for longer if they need to, if they find the activities helpful.

Youth inclusion and support panels

These panels - made up of people like local youth or social workers - work with 8 to 13 year-olds to make sure they get access to local services that will help them stay out of trouble. These services could be things like getting extra help at school, or treatment for health or mental health problems.

Both these programmes use something called an 'intervention plan' that everyone must agree on, including the young person and their family. This plan describes what the young person is expected to do, as well as what support the young person will get.

Young people can also be mentored, and sometimes their families can also be involved.

A mentor is a specially trained volunteer who spends time helping someone.

They can help a young person with things like:

• doing better at school
• coping with bullying
• applying for jobs or colleges

Sometimes this personal help can be more effective than sending a young person on a group activity. A mentoring programme doesn’t usually have a set time limit - a young person can be mentored for as long as is helpful.

Mentors are not connected to the police or a school.

Usually, parents and families will be involved in helping a young person on a crime prevention programme. This could mean anything from attending classes with their child, to just making sure the young person does what they are asked.

Parenting programmes

If a young person gets into trouble with the law, their parents or carers might be asked to go on a parenting programme. Usually, they will be asked to attend voluntarily, but sometimes they will have to go.

This can be part of a youth crime prevention programme, and sometimes it will be separate.

How these programmes work will change from person to person, and will be planned in a way that's right for the young person and their family. They could involve:

• improving parenting skills
• making sure nothing at home is causing the young person to commit crime