Adultifying Youth Custody: Learning lessons on transition to adulthood from the use of youth custody for young adults
Today [January 29 2025], we are pleased to share our latest policy briefing, Adultifying Youth Custody: Learning lessons on transition to adulthood from the use of youth custody for young adults. This report calls on the government to protect and promote a child centred children’s secure estate, and develop a distinct approach to custody for young adults.
The briefing, funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and informed by consultations with young people, practitioners, and sector experts, explores how the government’s decision to temporarily raise the age young people transfer from the children’s secure estate to the adult secure estate from 18 to 19 destabilised Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), impacting the care offered to both under and over 18s.
The temporary change to the transitions policy was put in place between November 2022 and October 2024 entirely in response to capacity pressures in the adult estate. The policy resulted in a 253% increase in the number of over 18s in the children’s estate, increasing pressures on an already struggling system. The report further highlights how opportunities to improve support for both children and young adults during this time have been missed and warns of the long-term risks of blurring the boundaries between youth and adult justice systems.
The report identifies several urgent issues:
A children’s estate stretched thin: The children’s secure estate has spent years lurching from crisis to crisis. It could not cope with the children already in its care let alone a rapid, significant increase in population, with different needs, which placed undue pressure on children, young people, and staff.
Deteriorating conditions harming children and young people: Existing issues of volatile establishments and failing regimes have been greatly exacerbated. Limited education and reduced support have left children and young adults locked in cells for prolonged periods, exacerbating mental health issues and reducing opportunities for rehabilitation.
Young adults left in limbo: Over 18s now kept in the children’s estate have faced uncertainty about their future, and felt progress stalled by a lack of activities and education designed for them. Staff and services in the children’s estate have struggled to provide care and support to a wider range of age and needs, while young adults in the adult estate also face concerning outcomes due to a lack of distinct provision.
Adultifying the children’s system: The government has treated the children’s system as a backup for adult prisons, rather than a distinct child focussed estate resulting in around one third of those in children’s YOIs during this time being over 18. There is a significant risk this policy represents a slippery slope towards the loss of crucial distinction between youth and adult justice.
Missed opportunities for reform: With low numbers of children in custody, the government could have focused on transforming youth custody into a welfare-based, rights-respecting system. Instead, we have seen a continued over-reliance on a failed system of YOI’s.
Key recommendations:
1. Custody must only ever be a last resort.
The Ministry of Justice must recognise the vulnerability and potential victimisation of children and young people who come into contact with the law, along with the harm imprisonment brings, and ensure custody is a genuine last resort. Where imprisonment is unavoidable, custody should treat children as children: Secure Children’s Homes must become the norm.
2. Remove the Youth Custody Service from HMPPS and create a Department for Children
To ensure the distinct identity of the children’s estate and prevent it being an afterthought to adult prisons, the YCS must be removed from HMPPS. Responsibility for youth justice should be moved to a newly created Department for Children, or under current departmental arrangements the Department for Education, bringing the responsibility for the care of all vulnerable children into one place and ensuring Child First policies are at the heart of youth justice.
3. Ensure the distinct character of the children’s secure estate by making sure it is kept separate from the adult estate.
All policy decision affecting the children’s secure estate must be made with the distinct needs and best interests of children considered as paramount, The children’s secure estate must be restricted for the care of under 18s only, other than on a case by case basis to ensure a child centred approach is upheld and prevent a reoccurrence of the estate being used as overflow for adult prisons.
4. Develop a comprehensive plan for young adults in custody
With the lessons learned from the temporary transitions policy change, HMPPS must create a far-reaching policy that addresses young adults’ distinct needs, entitlements, and maturity. The Ministry of Justice should conduct a review of domestic and international models for young adult custody to determine the most effective approach.
5. Supportive transitions on a case-case basis
It is imperative the Ministry of Justice identifies barriers to case by case decision-making on when a young person transitions from youth to adult custody, ensuring decisions take into consideration individual young people’s wants and needs. Young people need accurate information about what to expect in adult prisons and there needs to be continuity in the education, youth work provision and other services they are able to access when making the transition
Jess Mullen, Chief Executive of the AYJ, commented:
“We are at a critical juncture in the youth justice system. Over three-quarters of children and young people are housed in YOIs that are not fit for purpose. Our research shows that the increase in over 18s held in these institutions between 2022 and 2024 through a temporary transition policy, only exacerbated the issues on the ground with already volatile and failing regimes struggling to meet the needs of children and young adults in their care.
“This policy was made, not with the needs of children in mind, but to alleviate overcrowding in the adult estate representing a slippery slope towards the adultifying of youth custody. This must be guarded against and the needs and rights of children must be the first and foremost consideration in any decisions affecting them.
“The cruel irony is that the number of children in custody was declining prior to 2022, providing a perfect opportunity to address the challenges faced by the children’s secure estate. It is essential that the Ministry of Justice now works to ensure that the number of children in custody continues to decline, with custody only ever being used as a last resort and for the shortest time possible. Where it is deemed necessary children should be accommodated in small, welfare based and rights respecting units close to their homes, such as Secure Children’s Homes, rather than in failing Youth Offending Institutions or the last remaining Secure Training College which must be closed.”
For further information please contact Millie Harris, AYJ Policy Manager at millie.harris@ayj.org.uk