South Devon Youth Offending Team 1st Floor Bridge House Courtenay St Newton Abbot TQ12 2QS Tel 01626 202700 Fax. 01626 202701 The South Devon Youth Offending Team is one of three teams making up the Devon Youth Offending Service. We cover South Hams and Teignbridge. The team has been running since 1999 and is made up of YOT workers, Social Workers, and workers from Health, Education, Probation and Police. We also have around 30 volunteers working with children as mentors, appropriate adults and referral order panel members. We work with children who have come before the Court and been given a Court Order. We look at the reasons why the offence was committed and agree a plan of action between the child and carers which aims to prevent similar behaviour in the future. This could be working to improve school attendance, reduce the use of drugs and alcohol, help with finding accommodation and employment, helping parents to manage the behaviour of their children and enabling the child to recognise the effects of their behaviour and to put right some of the harm caused. We also work with children who have not yet come before the Court but who may have received a Final Warning or Police Reprimand or whose behaviour makes people think that they will soon commit an offence. We will work to identify the reasons why the child’s behaviour is causing concern and work with child and parents or carers to improve behaviour and prevent offences from being committed. We have a strong emphasis on Restorative Justice and there are people in the team who work with young people who have committed a crime to help them to repair the harm caused by their actions. This may involve meeting the people affected by the behaviour, writing a letter of apology or carrying out work to improve the local community We work with children in a variety of ways. Sometimes we work with the child and carers together, sometimes we work with the child and carers separately. We have a piece of land in Newton Abbot which we use to grow vegetables and flowers to give to local people or to put in public areas. We also make things for the community such as benches, bird boxes and signs. We have a media suite to enable children to express their views in a variety of ways. When we work with children we look at the behaviour that has caused problems and try to understand why that happened and to look for ways of avoiding similar behaviour in the future. We also look for strengths, what can the child do well and we encourage positive activities. We try to be creative when working with children, we like to find different ways of engaging with them to change their behaviour, to repair the harm and to focus their attention on the positive aspects of their lives in order to achieve their full potential. Helen Hulme Manager South Devon Youth Offending Team.