The Irish Youth Justice Service operates as an executive office located in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The Irish Youth Justice Service has responsibility for leading and driving reform in the area of youth justice. Its objective is to improve delivery of youth justice services and reduce youth offending.
There are two divisions within the Irish Youth Justice Service:
- the Children Detention Schools Unit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is responsible for legislation and policy in respect of children detention schools
- the Youth Crime Policy and Programmes Division of the Department of Justice, which deals with youth crime policy, oversight and funding of the 105 Garda youth diversion projects nationwide
The Irish Youth Justice Service is part supported by the Irish Government and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020.