Staf and CYCJ’s Youth Justice Voices project has some exciting opportunities available this month for young people aged 16-25 to shape the future of Youth Justice in Scotland.

'Youth Justice Visionaries' are offering a series of free online engagement workshops throughout September for existing youth and participation groups and organisations, and have also created a topic guide on behalf of the Scottish Government, for workers to support young people participate in consultations on key issues such as the Scottish Government’s Youth Justice Vision and Action plan, raising the age of referral, and potential new places of safety.

The deadline for submitting views is 30th September - if you would like to support young people to have their views heard through topic guide or an online workshop tailored to your organisation or participation group please get in contact with ruth@staf.scot

Below you will find more information about how you can help influence the future of youth justice in Scotland, including a link to download the topic guide.


How are Youth Justice Voices influencing that future of Youth Justice?
To make sure that it’s getting Scotland’s new Vision and Action Plan for Youth Justice right for young people, the Scottish Government has commissioned Youth Justice Voices to develop an engagement strategy.

With the support and training of Youth Justice Voices participation workers, young people will develop a range of tools to gather the views of justice experienced children and young people on what the priority areas for the next two years and beyond should be.

Whilst we are aware young people have been asked to participate in a lot of research we are keen to ensure that they have a stake and a say in some important consultations that could have significant impact on care and justice experienced young people. This includes the Scottish Government’s next Youth Justice Vision and Action plan, raising the referral age to the CHS reporter and potential new places of safety.


How can I get involved? How can I support young people to have their voices heard?
The 'Youth Justice Visionaries' will run a series of online engagement workshops throughout September, considering key issues such as the Age of Criminal Responsibility, place of safety, and the extension of the Children’s Hearings System.

Existing youth and participation groups and organisations can get in contact with ruth@staf.scot to book a workshop tailored to your group during September.

As well as online engagement activities, we are also requesting that workers support young people to have their say in these consultations. We have therefore created a topic guide, on behalf of the Scottish government for workers to use as a tool to support young people to participate in any of these consultations they might have an interest in.

Responses for this should be returned to careandjustice@gov.scot by 30th of September.