The Youth Justice Improvement Board was originally set up by the Scottish Government to drive forward the implementation of the Youth Justice Strategy ‘Preventing Offending: Getting it right for Children and Young People’. The strategy, which was published in 2015 concluded in 2020.

A new vision was launched in July 2021 – ‘A Rights-Respecting Approach to Justice for Children and Young People: Scotland’s Vision and Priorities’. This vision builds on the youth justice strategy and represents a shared foundation between the Scottish Government and partners to continue to support the agenda to keep children and young people out of the criminal justice system and promote the use of the Whole System Approach.

The Board is chaired by Lesley Sheppard, Director of the Scottish Government’s Children and Families Division, and includes senior representation from a wide range of organisations including Police Scotland, COSLA, SCRA, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) as well as education, health and third sector. 

The Youth Justice Improvement Board aims to drive a culture of improvement in youth justice at national level to make a sustained impact on priority areas as outlined in the Youth Justice Vision.