Taskforce Guardian is a joint Department of Youth Justice and Queensland Police Service initiative providing a targeted response to youth crime hot spots.
Taskforce Guardian is a rapid response team, deploying specialist support to target sudden surges in youth offending in areas across Queensland. Our deployment teams consist of:
- Queensland Police Service (QPS) detectives
- case workers
- court coordinators
- restorative justice convenors
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural capability officers.
With each deployment we tailor the number of personnel and resources provided based on the assistance requested from the local service centres and the youth crime rate in the area.
What does Taskforce Guardian do?
Our goal is to supplement local resources to help address increases in youth crime. We do this by working alongside key agencies to provide an effective and collaborative approach to service delivery. The team supports local police and youth justice service centres, providing strategic advice and additional resources, upskilling service centre employees and providing additional workforce power.
Supporting local police and youth justice service centres
Prior to our deployment we engage with local service centres to gain an understanding of the local youth crime issues, the resources needed to help, and the additional personnel required at each location. Alongside QPS, we develop a local response plan based on the outcomes we want to achieve from our deployment.
As part of our work supporting local service centres and supplying additional resources, we provide a range of responses including:
- mentoring and upskilling regional staff to ensure high quality statutory services and evidence-based support (PDF, 224KB) are provided to young people, including case reviews and statutory reporting
- linking young people and families to services that can provide early intervention or a collaborative response for high-risk and serious repeat offending, including multi-agency collaboration panels (MACP) and early action groups (EAG)
- building the capacity and capability of regional service centres so they can provide consistent responses, referrals and risk assessments
- supporting the local implementation of change-oriented programs
- mentoring, coaching and facilitating restorative justice conferences
- building cultural awareness and responsivity to best support youth justice services to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, their families and their communities.
We work collaboratively with the local service centres, communities and Elders to provide support while utilising their skills and knowledge to achieve positive outcomes. We appreciate that the local service centre are experts on the local community, and we go there to assist them.
Improving community safety
During each deployment we work to increase public safety and community confidence. The length of each deployment is based on the needs of the local youth justice service centre, the community and type of assistance requested. On average we deploy to a location for approximately 8 days.
During Taskforce Guardian deployments we aim to:
- reduce reoffending and engage with serious repeat offenders
- support community members who have been victims of youth crime through restorative justice
- decrease the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the youth justice system.
As a roaming resource with long-term effects we provide additional capacity to service centres focusing on change-oriented programs for young people in, or at risk of becoming involved with, the youth justice system. The overall aim of each deployment is to provide the resources and workforce power required to reduce youth crime in the region.
Partnerships
We work with not-for-profit community groups and organistaions, including social services and health sectors, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, Traditional Owners groups, communities, community-controlled organisations, and local businesses to provide a comprehensive service with the collective aim of reducing youth crime. During each deployment Taskforce Guardian also collaborate with other government agencies including:
- early action groups (EAG) – providing multi-agency case management coordination for young people aged 8-16 years who are at moderate/high risk reoffending
- multi-agency collaborative panels (MACP) – designed to coordinate service delivery and share information to support high risk and serious repeat offenders. MACP works with a variety of agencies, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders services, child protection services, corrective services, disability, education, housing, and health
- youth co-responder teams (YCRT) – a joint initiative with QPS, connecting specialist staff with young people who are involved with the criminal justice system, or at risk of doing so.
Locations
Taskforce Guardian works across Queensland, deploying to regional areas where assistance has been requested. Learn more about locations of youth service centres across Queensland.
More information
For more information on Youth Justice Taskforce Guardian, read our frequently asked questions or email TFG_YJ@cyjma.qld.gov.au.
Last updated 12 September 2024
