Working with young people in the community

We are working to provide a culturally safe justice system that diverts young people towards better lives and brighter futures.

Our focus is on early intervention, diversion and intensive case management programs which help to turn around the lives of at-risk young people and keep the community safe.

Our officers in the community work in youth justice service centres, as well as programs such as:

Youth co-responder

Youth co-responder teams consist of police and youth justice staff who patrol the streets and engage with young people at local parks and shopping centres, on the street or in their homes, day or night.

Youth co-responder teams:

  • transport young people home from places of risk or if they're engaging in anti-social behaviour
  • find missing children
  • take young people to hospital to treat injuries
  • connect young people to vocational training and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mentors
  • follow up with families in crisis situations.

They also check on young people on bail during weekends and evenings to help ensure they are complying with their bail conditions.

Transition to Success

Transition to Success (T2S) helps young people lower their risk of offending by engaging with education, training and employment. Our Youth Justice officers work with other agencies, local businesses and community organisations to deliver the T2S program.

We deliver the program in a local community setting and give young people a chance to work toward a future that isn’t defined by their past.

Intensive case management

Intensive case management provides specialised case managers for high-risk young offenders and their families to help break the cycle of crime. The program provides targeted intervention to address the multiple factors that impact chronic juvenile offending and delivers service response strategies to reduce and prevent future offending.

Roles in the community

The following are some of the many Youth Justice roles in the community.

Co-responder

As a co-responder, you will work alongside police to divert at-risk young people after hours.

You will provide intervention and support to young offenders subject to youth justice intervention, or those at risk of entering the youth justice system, with the aim of preventing offending and reducing re-offending.

Team leader co-responder

As a team leader, you will supervise a team of professional staff across multiple sites to ensure high-quality, culturally appropriate services are provided to at risk children and young people, their families and communities, with the aim of preventing offending and reducing re-offending.

Transition officer/senior transitions officer

As a transition officer, you will coordinate and deliver the T2S program for a local area and supervise its development, implementation, and ongoing delivery and improvement. While the roles are largely operational, they provide valuable feedback to contribute to the success of the program statewide.

Intensive case management caseworker

As an intensive case management caseworker, you will develop service response plans and provide intensive interventions that will reduce offending and re-offending by high-risk recidivist offenders.

Youth, family and community resource officer

In this role, you will support the effective engagement of young people and their families to facilitate appropriate cultural and community engagement, maximise opportunities for case management interventions and reduce offending and re-offending by high-risk offenders.