Youth Justice Work

Communication, with spoken words, written words and without words, is central to almost all human activity. Some people have disabilities or difficulties, which makes communication a special challenge for them. In order to communicate effectively, and participate fully, these people may need some additional support and are therefore said to have communication needs.

The term communication needs describes a range of difficulties and disabilities that the majority of young people in the youth justice system may have and mainly refers to young people who have speech, language and communication needs, Dyslexia and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families’ (DCSF) Better Communication Action Plan sets out a range of initiatives to improve speech, language and communication services for young people in the youth justice system. The Communication Trust’s work on youth justice has been developed to meet the needs of the youth justice workforce at points where staff have significant contact with young people and is delivered in partnership with colleagues from The Dyslexia-SpLD Trust and the Autism Educational Trust.

For more information on the work of the Trust and our partners in this field please go to:

• Our work 
• Resources 
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