Jersey’s youth justice system is allowing children to fall through the cracks, with a new report revealing that “missed opportunities for diversion” are seeing young people enter the system only after problems have escalated.
Published today, the Building a Safer Community report warned that children are too often entering the system “at a point where early needs had already escalated”, revealing a pattern of late intervention and “inconsistent” support.
The Building a Safer Community framework was launched in March 2024 as a cross-government and multi-agency framework to improve community safety, reduce crime, and strengthen early intervention and prevention programmes across Jersey.
But the latest report concluded that, while the system is “well-intentioned”, it has “not fully aligned around a shared philosophy, consistent practice, or multi-agency co-ordination needed to support children effectively”.
A new Youth Justice Roadmap was launched to address the issue, but the report revealed that delivery is “unfunded and without dedicated resources”. Instead, progress relies on “what can be achieved within limited existing resource”.
The report also highlights growing safeguarding pressures elsewhere, particularly around migrant workers.
Work permits rose to 3,280 in 2025 – an eightfold increase since 2020 – creating a “more complex and dynamic migration landscape”.
Frontline agencies have already raised “potential perceived safeguarding risks affecting migrant workers”, with growing concerns around accommodation, employment conditions and potential exploitation risks for migrant workers.
Gaps in Jersey’s response to domestic abuse and sexual harm are also highlighted, with increasing demand placing pressure on services.
A cross-government review found “inconsistency in levels of staff knowledge”, a “lack of mandatory training”, and “over-reliance on specialist services”.
Key gaps include child-on-child harm, trauma-informed practice and cultural awareness.
Despite these challenges, the report outlines some areas of progress, including a fall in reoffending rates and reductions in anti-social behaviour. But it repeatedly warns that such gains may not be sustainable.
The Building a Safer Community programme is being delivered by a “very small core team”, all of whom have “additional responsibilities” in their roles which are “unrelated” to the programme.
There is also “minimal resourcing attached to the delivery of actions”, meaning services are expected to absorb additional responsibilities within existing budgets.
As a result, the report warns that progress could be “inconsistent and challenging to sustain”, with risks that “opportunities for early intervention and prevention are missed”.
Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said: “The work set out in this report is significant and will be crucial to the future development and success of the Building a Safer Community framework as it is grown and developed.
“It should be understood as the first phase of a long-term ambition for our island.”