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Youth Justice Management Board (YJMB)

Creating Safer Futures for Children and Communities

The Gloucestershire Youth Justice Management Board (YJMB) is committed to building a youth justice system that is fair, inclusive, and child-centred, ensuring that every child in Gloucestershire has the opportunity to thrive in safe and supportive communities.

Our Vision

We want Gloucestershire to be a great place for all children and young people to grow up and live lives of choice and opportunity. Through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to safeguarding and justice, we aim to:

  • Prevent children from entering the youth justice system
  • Support desistance from crime
  • Reduce the use of custody
  • Address disproportionality and complex needs
  • Empower children to shape the services that support them

Child First: Our Guiding Principle

At the heart of our work is the Child First approach, which means:

  • Seeing children as children – recognising their potential and vulnerabilities
  • Promoting pro-social identity – helping children build positive futures
  • Collaborating with children – ensuring their voices are heard
  • Avoiding stigma – focusing on support, not punishment

This principle guides all aspects of our youth justice system, ensuring that children are treated with dignity and respect, and that their welfare is prioritised even when risks and vulnerabilities increase.

Safeguarding and Youth Justice: A Unified Approach

The YJMB works in close alignment with the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership (GSCP) to address the overlap between safeguarding and youth justice. This includes:

  • Shared secretariat support for governance and coordination
  • Joint subgroups focused on education, exploitation, and missing children
  • Integrated responses to serious incidents and child deaths
  • Collaborative planning and data sharing to identify and address cross-cutting issues

Together, we ensure that children in the justice system receive the right support at the right time, and that safeguarding remains central to all interventions.

Strategic Leadership and Accountability

The YJMB provides strategic oversight of Gloucestershire’s Youth Justice Service, ensuring:

  • Compliance with national standards and legislation
  • Delivery of high-quality, trauma-informed services
  • Effective multi-agency collaboration
  • Continuous performance monitoring and improvement
  • Annual publication of the Youth Justice Plan

Our Board includes statutory partners from children’s services, education, health, police, probation, and more, all working together to improve outcomes for children and communities.

Our Priorities

As outlined in the Youth Justice Plan 2024–2025, our key priorities include:

  • Enhancing the voice and engagement of children and young people
  • Reducing disproportionality in the justice system
  • Providing intensive support for children most entrenched in offending
  • Maintaining Child First principles across all levels of risk and vulnerability

Join Us in Making a Difference

We believe that every child deserves the best possible chance. Through our collaborative efforts, we are building a youth justice system that not only addresses offending but also promotes healing, growth, and opportunity.

For more information, visit the Youth Justice Board Resource Hub or explore the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership.