Police have rounded up 15 youths who escaped from Malmsbury youth detention centre and embarked on a 24-hour crime spree, but Victoria's justice system has lurched further into crisis with the Youth Affairs Minister battling to retain her job.

Daniel Andrews threw his support behind the embattled Minister on Thursday, as police took the unprecedented step of seeking approval from the Children's Court to identify the juvenile offenders who wreaked havoc across Melbourne.

The two remaining offenders were apprehended in Colac on Thursday afternoon after dumping a stolen Ford XR6 and attempting to flee on foot.

It marked the end of a manhunt that spanned from Ballarat to Moe, after the youths escaped from the Malmsbury facility at  2.45pm on Wednesday and engaged in a series of violent assaults, car-jackings and robberies across the state.

Crimes allegedly linked to the 15 escapes included:

• An attempted armed robbery in Berwick at 9.20pm on Wednesday, when offenders confronted a person and attempted to steal a car;
• An man was assaulted by four men with a baseball bat and threatened with a knife in Bonbeach at 10.45pm;
• Two armed robberies in Noble Park at 11.15pm. Two victims were threatened with a knife and a baseball bat and had their phones stolen;
• Hit and run at Mulgrave at 11.40pm involving a white Suzuki SUV stolen by four escapees that was later dumped at a BP service station on the corner of Springvale and Wellington roads;
• Armed robbery at 12.30am outside Sexyland in Hallam, where a knife was used to threaten a staff member.

At 2.40am in Mitcham, three young men stormed into a home in Quarry Road and threatened the owner with a baseball bat and machete before demanding his phone and keys to a silver Mercedes. 

The luxury car was found at an Ashburton property on Thursday morning, when four youths were apprehended by police. Several weapons, including bats and knives, were seized at the Ambon Street property by detectives.

At midday on Thursday, police raided a home in the Ballarat suburb of Redan and took a 17-year-old youth into custody.

Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed police were examining links between the "mini crime wave" and the escaped youths.

Mr Patton also conceded that police lacked vital information about the youth offenders, which prompted their application to the Children's Court for permission to identify the youths.

Several media outlets briefly named two escapees, a 16-year-old from Moe and a 17-year-old from St Albans. Photographs of the two youths were also published but later removed.

The grandfather of the 17-year-old boy, said he was relieved his grandson had been taken into custody.

"When you have these kids stealing cars, they pose a huge risk to the community and themselves. He needs to be pulled up for his own sake."

He said his grandson was essentially a "good kid" who was easily led and had been deeply traumatised by the tragic death of his mother.

He urged the Andrews government to take a less punitive approach towards youth offenders.

"The government is now trying to convince everyone that the only way to fix this mess is to build more jails and lock everyone up. But it's not working and we're in a terrible mess," he said.