YORK’S Youth Offending Team has picked up a national award for its work helping high risk and complex young people with mental health issues.

The team received the “good design” award from the Youth Justice Board for its Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service model, which outlines how the team and its partners can assess and support high- risk young people with complex mental health needs. As part of the model, the team set up a Multi-Agency Forensic Mental Health Panel, to ensure that young offenders with mental health issues receive the right assessment and specialist support they need, even if that requires access to services outside of the area.

Angela Crossland, York Youth Offending Team manager, said: “The award is testament to the hard work of the organisations on the panel, and their commitment to supporting some of the city’s most challenging and vulnerable young people.”