Preventing further isolation
Our Youth Justice Chaplains provide pastoral support to young people in youth custodial centres.
They provide accompaniment and emotional and spiritual support for young people who are at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives.
What services are available?
Our Youth Justice Chaplains work within Victoria’s two youth justice precincts at Parkville and Malmsbury. They offer a range of supports to young people in custody including:
- Having someone there to listen or sit silently with them
- Having someone to pray with them and/or provide them with religious reading material
- Providing a church service on weekends
- Helping them to adjust to new surroundings
- Helping them to explore and/or reconcile their spirituality
- Helping them through loss and grief
- Helping them to prepare for parole
Youth Justice Chaplains also play a role in advocating for the dignity of young people, within the youth justice system and across the broader community.
They work as part of an interfaith network, working alongside chaplains from many other faith groups.
What are the benefits?
Having someone to walk alongside young people on their journey, shoulder-to-shoulder, gives them the opportunity to feel listened to and understood.
Our chaplains can help young people in custodial centres to feel less alone; to show them that they are worthy of support and care; to give them hope for a better, brighter future; and to empower them to lead a positive and fulfilling life.
Eligibility
Our Youth Justice Chaplains can support young people in custody regardless of their spiritual or religious belief or background.
More information
Contact us
For more information on this service please contact the Pastoral Services team at our East Melbourne office:
T: 03 9287 5555
E: CatholicCare@ccam.org.au
Other services
You might also be interested in some of the following services offered at CatholicCare: