- The AYM is the only body representing over 800 leaders of youth justice services in England
- A not-for-profit limited company, we are led by subject matter experts to share best practice, whilst working to challenge government policy makers
- By commissioning training, sharing regular practice bulletins and leading peer reviews, over the past 25 years we have supported our members to improve services to children and victims in contact with the justice system
Image created by young people engaged with Leeds Youth Justice Service
Who We Are
The AYM (Association of Youth Offending Team Managers) is funded by Members’ subscriptions and lead by a voluntary elected executive that represents 95% of Youth Offending Teams across England.
Trusted stakeholder
to government policy, research and innovation leads
Driving change
through experience and representing perspective of children, families and victims
Pushing for investment
in furthering the effectiveness of the youth justice system
Our Guiding Principles
The welfare needs of children should be central to developments in youth justice
Priority should be given to areas of the highest deprivation in the distribution of central youth justice resources
All efforts must be made to identify and redress disproportionate justice outcomes for children and victims within the global majority
The experience of children as victims must be core to policy making
Children should always have the benefit of a distinct and separate justice system
Custody (loss of liberty) should be a last resort in the field of Youth Justice.
Our members run services providing community-based supervision across 137 services for children and young people who have or are at risk of offending. We also work closely with staff in secure units and young offender institutions to ensure that young people in custody have as smooth a transition as possible back into their communities.
