The Lancashire Youth Offending Team (YOT) works with 10–17 year-olds who may be:
- referred by the police following an offence for which they received a final warning
- going through the courts
- serving a community or custodial sentence
YOT has six offices in:
- Lancaster
- Chorley
- Burnley
- Preston
- Wyre and Fylde
- Hyndburn
The large multi-agency team includes representatives from:
- probation
- health
- education
- social services
- parenting
- victim liaison
- reparation
- young people’s services (YPS)
- substance misuse
- police
YOT work with offenders, their families and communities to ensure that:
- the needs of victims are met
- young people take responsibility for their criminal behaviour and put something back into their community
- families and parents are supported and encouraged to take responsibility for their children
- opportunities exist to prevent youth crime
- young people find out more about the dangers of carrying weapons and misusing drugs
- young people achieve their potential, by getting help with career advice, training and apprenticeships
- court cases are dealt with quickly
- the punishment reflects the seriousness of the crime