AYJ Monthly Newsletter: February 2021
AYJ
NEWS
AYJ relaunch
This month we officially relaunched as the Alliance for Youth Justice! This represents an exciting new phase of the organisation and we are excited for all the hard work that is to come. Read AYJ Director Pippa Goodfellow’s blog about the relaunch here. CYPNow reported on our relaunch here.
AYJ Launch Event: How could we reimagine justice for children?
To celebrate our relaunch as the AYJ we are holding a lunchtime launch event next Wednesday March 3rd from 12-1.30pm that will consider how we can reimagine justice for children. We will be joined by an expert panel including Gavin McKenna of Reach Every Generation, Nadine Smith of Leaders Unlocked, Shadae Cazeau of Equal, and John Drew, social change activist and previous Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board, who will explore 'justice' through themes of children’s rights, access, equity and participation. Find out more and book your place here.
Do you know any young people who want to share their views and ideas about youth justice?
As part of their ongoing work on our youth participation project, our Young Advocates are set to begin their peer research which will see them carrying out one-to-one interviews virtually with young people across the country, looking at three areas:
Stereotypes – as it affects young people e.g. because of their age, race and ethnicity, and gender.
Education and early warning signs – identifying the signs someone is at risk and needs help, particularly in education settings.
Jail – experiences of jail and how to break the cycle.
The views and ideas of the young people who get involved and the recommendations for change will feed into the Young Advocates engagement with a range of justice sector stakeholders and influence the focus and direction of the Young Advocates’ work in the second phase of the project.
If you think young people you work with would be suitable to and interested in being interviewed by one of our Young Advocates throughout March on any of these topics please email amania.scott-samuels@ayj.org.uk.
How has COVID-19 impacted your work in youth justice?
We are calling for youth justice professionals to share their experiences of the pandemic in a blog post. If you are interested, would like to share your ideas, or would like more information, please contact Millie Hall at millie.hall@ayj.org.uk
AYJ in conversation with…Craig Pinkney, Founder of SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict
Millie Hall, our Communications Assistant, speaks to Craig Pinkney, Founding Director of SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict – one of AYJ’s newest members! SOLVE aims to critically address causes of violence and conflict through research, training, workshops, consultancy, advocacy and street-based youth work. Craig is also a Criminologist, Urban Youth specialist, and community scholar who takes the position of ‘bridging the gap between academia and the streets.’
Craig talks about the foundations of SOLVE, their work in tackling youth violence, as well as SOLVE’s anti-racist training for everyone from the youth justice sector to Chelsea FC, watch the interview here. Be sure to subscribe to the new AYJ YouTube channel to keep up to date with our work and that of our members!
AYJ engagement this month
We met with Shadow Home Office Minister Bambos Charalambous MP to discuss what more could be done to prevent crime and divert children from the youth justice system, and update on our current work and concerns around the Sentencing White Paper.
We met with Rob Butler MP to discuss the Sentencing White Paper and shared concerns around children who turn 18 between committing and being prosecuted for an offence.
We had an introductory meeting with the office of Lord Bird to hear about his campaigns for children and young people and share details of our work.
We attended a YJB and MoJ Youth Justice Policy Unit focus group to discuss proposed recommendations from the MoJ review of custodial remand for children.
The AYJ and a number of our members were invited by the YJB and Magistrates Association to inform their work to develop a protocol to address ‘BAME disproportionality’.
We attended a stakeholder workshop to consider recommendations of a report by AYJ member the Centre for Mental Health (CMH) commissioned by NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) in partnership with the Youth Custody Service (YCS), exploring the needs of girls placed in the secure estate and how best to meet them.
AYJ welcomes new members
We are delighted to formally welcome a number of new members to the AYJ this month: Listen Up, Oasis Charitable Trust, SHiFT, and new Associate members Kate Bulman and Ellena Cooke.
Listen Up puts the voices of children often left unheard at the heart of the safeguarding work of the services and organisations that work closest to them, through the provision of bespoke research and evaluation, consultation services and publications that consolidate the organisation’s learning for a range of audiences.
Oasis Charitable Trust engages in a range of work including that related to youth work, housing, education as well as youth justice reform, through a number of partnerships, that is rooted in aims to strengthen communities, foster inclusivity, and fight inequality to increase opportunities for all.
SHiFT aims to break the destructive cycle that keeps children and young people that have committed crime engaging in such risky behaviour through tailored support at the pivotal point of intervention. The organisation’s Breaking the Cycle model offers children and young people an opportunity to make a positive contribution to society, improving outcomes at a significantly lower cost than what it takes to keep a child within the secure estate.
Kate Bulman has worked with children in custody for 16 years - she currently works as Child and Families Practitioner at Oakhill STC, and Facilitator for Fresh Start on its specialist domestic abuse prevention programme. She was previously a member of the SCYJ.
Ellena Cooke is the Principal Psychologist and Sexual Behaviour Service Lead at HMYOI Feltham and works to support the mental health and wellbeing of children in the secure estate, as well as systemic guidance on the needs of children within the establishment.
Publication: “Tackling Racial Injustice: Children and the Youth Justice System” – JUSTICE Working Party
AYJ member JUSTICE has published its report on tackling racial injustice for children in the youth justice system, which includes 45 recommendations in areas concerning the creation of a child first culture across the system, police accountability, a national diversion framework, and improved court processes. AYJ Director, Pippa Goodfellow, was on the Working Party which developed the report, alongside a number of AYJ members, with many more individuals and organisations from the membership contributing to the report’s findings and recommendations.
AYJ
COMMENT
New publications underline the scale of the challenges for youth justice
Following the publication of three important reports this month - the YJB's annual youth justice statistics, accompanying experimental statistics on the needs of children, and HMI Prisons’ Children in Custody survey analysis - we released a comment highlighting critical concerns, particularly for children in custody, and calling for action to address the problems that persist.
Youth Courts and Sentencing Bill
This week Rob Butler MP put forward a Ten Minute Rule Bill proposing that children who turn 18 while awaiting prosecution for an alleged offence committed as a child should be dealt with by the youth courts and sentenced within the youth justice system, rather than being treated as an adult and facing adult criminal justice responses - as is currently the case. We issued a statement of support for the motion on our website here.
The proposal received cross-party support including from Chair of the Justice Select Committee Sir Bob Neill, and Butler highlighted backing from the YJB, Magistrates Association, Children’s Commissioner for England, AYJ members the Association of YOT Managers, Just for Kids Law and NAYJ, and from the AYJ. Watch Rob Butler’s speech or read the transcript. CYPNow has reported on the proposals here.
New reports demonstrate welcome scrutiny but missed opportunities for youth justice reform
AYJ has written a comment piece examining the important Justice Select Committee and HMI Prisons publications above, arguing that while they provide welcome scrutiny, they miss opportunities for urgently needed reform. We are disappointed that the Justice Select Committee recommendations nor the government response are sufficiently strong particularly given the devastating toll restrictions in custody have taken on children, and given increasing racial disparities in the secure estate.
“Children in Custody 2019-20: An analysis of 12-18-year-olds' perceptions of their experiences in secure training centres and young offender institutions” - HMI Prisons
HMI Prisons has published its annual report on children’s self-reported experiences of custody between April 2019 - March 2020. The report sheds light on ongoing concerns around day to day life, the levels of violence in the youth secure estate including the levels of restraint being used against children and the comparatively worse experiences of black and minority ethnic children. AYJ Director Pippa Goodfellow published a statement on the findings here, and AYJ member Khulisa has reflected on the report here.