I want to join in

Children and young people tell us they want the chance to help other people, to have their say in the way things are run in the city, and for the environment around them to be improved.

Our priorities are for children and young people to:

• Be strong individuals, proud of their city and contribute to its future
• Be aware of how their behaviour affects others and the importance of staying out of trouble

Enabling children and young people to make a positive contribution

Link to Children's Services information on the Sunderland City Council website

Youth Offending Service

Sunderland Youth Offending Service offers a number of services as follows:

Preventative services: the service works with a wide range of partnerships to help young people who are at risk of offending.

Pre-court services: This involves working with young people who have offended for the first and second time (Reprimand and Final Warning).
Court services: There are a number of court services which include Appropriate adult services (at police stations), preparation of pre-sentence reports, direct support to young people at court, Bail Supervision & Support, Remand Management.
Supervision in the community: When a young person receives a community based court order, we supervise them. This involves initial assessment (ASSET) and specialist risk assessment in accordance to need. We also prepare plans of work to prevent re-offending. Where required we also provide specialist support including Mental Health, Education, Housing, Substance Misuse, Restorative Justice, Offending Behaviour programmes, and mentoring: Sunderland Youth Offending Service also offers support to parents, including intensive Parenting Programmes by order of the court. We also provide Intensive Supervision. Surveillance (ISSP) for high risk, persistent and prolific offenders.
Custodial Services: We work with young people to support young people serving custodial sentences. This includes sentence planning to ensuring a seamless transition into the community for community supervision elements of DTO sentences.

Find out more about the Youth Offending Service by visiting the website here.

Useful information on the Directgov website:

• Getting involved in your community
• Your rights and responsibilities
• If your child is arrested and charged