Considerable progress has been made in Youth Justice (YJ) workforce development over the last 10 years. Increasingly, managers are seeking out experienced individuals from a range of backgrounds who can demonstrate the key skills needed in youth justice and where necessary, identifying additional training as appropriate.

It is clear there is a distinct set of youth justice skills, a well-defined body of knowledge and understanding with the workforce requiring accessible, high quality and accredited learning resources.

There is a well-established youth justice professional framework which is built upon the youth justice skills matrix and youth justice degree and this can have a significant impact on recruitment.

Whilst within youth justice teams, there is still the valuable fundamental multi-disciplinary base, there is a growing recognition that an effective team needs to have the right complementary mix of professionals who are highly skilled in engaging with often complex young people who offend.

This section will offer knowledge and information concerning professional development, professional progression as well as some toolkits on working effectively with those staff that are required to supervise other staff.