Overview

Somerset Youth Offending Team (YOT) aims to reduce youth offending. Most of the work of the team is with young people aged 10 to 18 who have been arrested by the police for a crime.

The team includes:

• face to face Youth Offending Service (YOS) youth justice practitioners who are trained in working with children and young people
• a psychologist
• a speech, language and communication specialist
• an education worker
• a restorative worker who works with victims
• a reparation worker who leads different activities in the community to help young people repair harm by doing something positive for the community
• a probation worker
• one police officer
• one police intervention worker
• a community involvement worker who supports and co-ordinates all our community volunteers

The YOS has two team leaders who are also trained in social work and probation work.

We are committed to working with all young people, their parents and carers and victims without discrimination through race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

We want to help support young people living in Somerset to have the best possible chance of achieving their potential.

What we do

We work with young people who have been referred to the YOS . You will be contacted by a member of the team and your first appointment will be an assessment. After that, you will be given appointments to see different YOS workers according to your needs. Most appointments are compulsory.

If you are a victim, your contact with YOS will be with a specialist victim or restorative justice worker and is always voluntary.

If you are a parent or carer, your YOS contact is usually voluntary. If a Parenting Order has been made or if you are to attend a Referral Order panel meeting, it is compulsory.

Following an assessment meeting, a plan of work will normally be agreed. This will be designed to meet your needs, any risk issues and will have the aim of reducing any further harm to the community. YOS staff working with you will also support in making future positive choices.

You may be involved with the YOS for just one meeting, several meetings or the court may have ordered you to have contact for up to three years. The length of time will depend on many factors including whether you are a victim or a young person who has committed an offence, and the seriousness of the offence.

The Somerset Youth Offending Team is part of Somerset Council. Whether we’ve got something right, or could have done something better, we would like to hear what you think of our services. If you want to inform us of a complaint, comment or compliment please visit our Complaints, comments, compliments page.

Our offices

Main contact – Glastonbury YOT – Glastonbury Hub, 1 Orchard Court, The Archers Way, Glastonbury, BA6 9JB. Phone 01458 831668

Taunton YOT – Somerset Council, B1East, County Hall, Taunton, TA1 4DY

Bridgwater YOT – Bridgwater House, Kings Square, Bridgwater, TA6 3AR

Shepton Mallet YOT – Youth Offending Team, Somerset Council, PO Box 5176, Cannards Grave Road, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 9DD. For travelling (SAT NAV) to Cannards Grave please use BA4 5BT. There is no parking on site – the nearest public car park is in Commercial Road, BA4 5DN – about a 5 minute walk to the District Council offices.

Yeovil YOT – Somerset Council, Brympton Way, Yeovil, BA20 2HT

Our Offices are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4.30pm on Friday. Appointments are often arranged outside of these times to enable young people to engage in their education, training or employment.

Volunteers

The Youth Offending Service has a vibrant and active team of volunteers to support the work of the YOS . This includes:

• acting as an Appropriate Adult in support of either a juvenile or a vulnerable adult detainee – making sure that the detained person for whom you are acting understands what is happening to them and why
• Panel Volunteers working with other Panel Members and the Youth Offending Service to make individual imaginative programmes of work to address young people’s offending behaviour
• Reparation Volunteers supporting young people to fully participate in their reparation work
• Family Group Conference Volunteers to assist in supporting family members who are vulnerable – for example, parents with learning difficulties who may struggle to express their views
• victim contact to work out the victim’s views and to keep them informed of the progress of their case

For more information visit Somerset Volunteering – Volunteer opportunities in Somerset.