Volunteer with youth justice
We are looking for volunteers to become Youth Justice Community Panel Members.
When a child pleads guilty to committing an offence, a referral order panel meeting takes place. These meetings are attended by:
- 2 trained volunteer community panel members
- a youth justice practitioner
- the young person and their parent or carer.
At panel meetings, the community panel members will:
- initiate a discussion with the child (and the parents or carers and the victims if appropriate) to explore what happened during the offence and hear about its impact
- consider any needs leading up to or arising from the offence
- coproduce a contract with the child (their progress against the contract will be monitored through progress panel meetings).
Training
You'll get 7 weeks of training to become a community panel member, including 4 mandatory face to face sessions and online e-learning.
You will learn about a variety of topics including:
- exploring youth justice
- referral orders
- youth court
- restorative justice approaches
- equality and diversity
- motivational interviewing
- understanding desistance
- mental health
- contextual safeguarding
- speech and language.
Training schedule
| Date and time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
Saturday 6 September 2025 9:30am to 12:30pm | Welcome session | Kroner House Eurogate Business Park Ashford TN24 8XU |
Saturday 13 September 2025 9:30am to 4:30pm | Skills practice Introduction to other services | Kroner House Eurogate Business Park Ashford TN24 8XU |
Saturday 27 September 2025 9:30am to 4:30pm | Skills practice | Kroner House Eurogate Business Park Ashford TN24 8XU |
Saturday 11 October 2025 9:30am to 4:30pm | Skills practice | Kroner House Eurogate Business Park Ashford TN24 8XU |
| Week beginning 20 October 2025 | Final 1:1 tutorials to:
| MS Teams |
What's expected
You'll be expected to:
- attend all training sessions to successfully complete the community panel member training course
- commit to 6 hours of volunteering per month
- prepare for and chair panel meetings
- travel to and from panel locations (travel costs will be reimbursed)
- attend an annual appraisal and 1:1 supervision
- work with youth justice practitioners and the referral order team
- volunteer for a minimum of a year (due to the training investment).
Read about how you can benefit from volunteering with us.
Apply
Applications close on 8 July 2025.
After you've submitted your application, you will be invited to meet with the Referral Order and Volunteer Lead to discuss the next steps at one of our offices in either Ashford or Maidstone.
If you have any questions, email referralorderteam-iys@kent.gov.uk.