ORIGINAL ARTICLE The service system challenges of work with juvenile justice involved young people in the Hunter Region, Australia Tamara Blakemore 1 Kylie Agllias 1 Amanda Howard 2 Shaun McCarthy 3 1 Social Work, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia 2 Social Work, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 3 Newcastle Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Correspondence Kylie Agllias, Social Work, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Email: Kylie.Agllias@newcastle.edu.au Received 12 September 2018. Accepted 1 June 2019 Funding information Centre for Excellence in Equity in Higher Education (CEEHE) at the University of Newcastle Abstract Current policies suggest that collaborative approaches are core to working effectively with juvenile justice involved young people. However, there is little research examining the workings of multi-agency and collaborative endeavours in this field, or the experiences of the human service work- ers facilitating these connections. This paper reports on qualitative research that resulted from the Juvenile Justice and Education Equity in the Hunter Region project. Thirty- eight human service workers were interviewed about their perceptions of the workings, strengths and challenges of the service system that supports young people who come into contact with the Children’s Court in the Lower and Upper Hunter regions of New South Wales. Data analysis revealed three key themes related to (1) service gaps, cycles and maelstrom; (2) pursuing authentic service engagement; and (3) insider–outsider dynamics in service provision. Findings are discussed in relation to emerging practice and research agendas. KEYWORDS human service workers, juvenile justice, service engagement, service sector collaboration, young people DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.69 Aust J Soc Issues 2019;54:341–356 © 2019 Australian Social Policy Association 341