The sun has barely set in Brisbane's south and a teenager is running, trying desperately to escape police officers who caught him trespassing at a local shopping plaza.

Key points: The Community Youth Response and Diversion program connects at risk children with support workers on the street

The Community Youth Response and Diversion program connects at risk children with support workers on the street Mike Carter, one of the support workers, says 180 children had been diverted from the streets

Mike Carter, one of the support workers, says 180 children had been diverted from the streets Police say the program has been successful at taking the pressure off authorities

The 14-year-old knows he has been banned from the property — and so do the officers.

Within seconds the teenager is taken down, handcuffed and arrested.

The scene is witnessed by about 20 of his mates, all yelling from the sidelines.

"I think it could've been avoided," frustrated support worker Mike Carter says, after speaking with police.

"We could have avoided that situation if police knew they have other options."

Just metres away from the group a young woman is mumbling on the concrete footpath, incoherent and begging others in the carpark not to help her.

An ambulance arrives and takes her to hospital after a suspected overdose.

This is a Thursday night — a school night — in the city of Logan.

The teenager arrested here was just 14 years old. ( ABC News )

Mr Carter has worked with Youth and Family Services (YFS) in the area for several years and says too many children in his city are being held on remand, or in police watch houses, on nights like this.

"These kids need help," he said.

Mr Carter is part of an outreach group that spends two nights a week driving marked vans around the streets of Logan as part of a new youth diversion program to keep kids out of police custody.

The State Government-funded Community Youth Response and Diversion (CYRD) program involves the support workers connecting with unsupervised children on the city's streets at night.

Mike Carter has been involved in the program since its inception earlier this year. ( ABC News: Anna Hartley )

The workers offer free transport and encourage them to go somewhere safe, such as the home of a friend or family member or a shelter.

"These kids have a lot going on, they're often homeless or don't go home for days, and are getting up to mischief with their peers, committing offences," Mr Carter said.

"They are very unlikely to come walking through a service's doors, so we need to go to them."

Young people being held in custody is not just an issue which is isolated to Logan.

The latest data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows on an average night 591 children are being held on remand across the country due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime.

'We used to sleep on the streets'

Mr Carter said since the program began in July, almost 180 children had been diverted from the streets, or police custody, to more secure locations.

Daniel* is one of those children. The 16-year-old is part of the group spending Thursday night in a local shopping plaza carpark, instead of at home.

"I got my mum's place but there's stuff going on there," he said, without elaborating.

"This [the plaza] is home for me. I just chill with my mates, have a great time, all of us are banned from the shopping plaza from doing dumb stuff, running amok you know — there's more stuff but I can't say.

"We don't have money to catch buses and half the time they don't let us on. We don't have cars.

"We used to sleep on the streets and not care, but [the outreach team] are helpful. They get us to homeless shelters, link us to get housing and give us places to go. They drive us to friends' houses, safe places."

These teenagers say that if it wasn't for the program they would be sleeping on the street. ( ABC News: Anna Hartley )

His friend, Natasha*, is 17 and also well known to Mr Carter and the outreach team.

"They've been helping us if we need someone to take us places they're always there to take us," she said.

"One time I was at a party. I didn't want to stay there, it wasn't a good environment, so I called them, and they took me to a friend's house.

"Without it I'd probably just roam around. I don't really have a place to stay."

Police call youth services for help

The outreach team is made up of YFS and another key Logan community organisation, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS).

Police say they have felt a positive change on the street as a result of the program. ( ABC News: Anna Hartley )

Acting Inspector Grant Ralston said when they weren't combing the streets, the outreach team took calls from police dealing with young people.

"It can be alarming to see young people, particularly 11- or 12-year-olds, on the streets in the evening. I've seen the frustrations of some police out there, and that's where this [program] was born out of," he said.

"Sometimes there may be no other option [to arrest children], but this program has been a great success.

"I'd like to see more [support] vehicles out there on the road. It's crucial."

Kids not being let off easy, State Government insists

Youth and Child Safety Minister Di Farmer said a similar program was also running in Townsville.

The Four Corners investigation found children as young as 12 have been placed in isolation cells and forced to wear suicide gowns. ( ABC News )

The Queensland Government hopes to roll it out to other areas that had high rates of young people being held on remand, including Ipswich, Moreton Bay, inner Brisbane and Cairns.

"We know the community expects young people to be held accountable for their actions, but we also believe the community doesn't want to see them reoffend," she said.

"If we keep locking up young people up and throwing away the key, they are almost guaranteed to reoffend.

"We have got to be doing things that work so we break that cycle."

The State Government has faced national condemnation this year after Four Corners revealed children as young as 10 had been locked up for extended stays in police watch houses.

Ms Farmer insisted the program was not an easy way out for children who broke the law.

"Kids need to be in detention if they are a risk to the community, and if they should be in detention they will be," she said.

After seeing their friend arrested, another taken by paramedics and being spoken to my security themselves, Natasha and Daniel are part of three van loads of kids who get taken from the shopping centre to somewhere safe in nearby suburbs.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 43 minutes 30 seconds 43 m Inside the Watch House ( Four Corners )

*Names in this article have been changed to protect the identities of minors.