What must a Youth Custody Strategy include? AYJ sets out our positions

Today [23rd January 2025] the AYJ has published a position paper setting out the essential elements of a strategic approach to children in custody.

We warmly welcomed the Youth Custody Service (YCS) announcement in 2024 of the development of a strategy for children in custody, something we have been calling for, for some time, to prevent the children’s secure estate continuing to lurch from crisis to crisis, and ensure children are only ever subjected to the harms of custody as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time.

Since the announcement we and many of our members have engaged directly with the YCS on the strategy’s development. We have held ongoing discussions with our members on what the strategy must contain and aim to achieve in order for it to be meaningful and successful. Our position paper pulls together the key recommendations that we and our members have fed into the YCS to inform their plans.

This includes clear plans for the future estate, including commitment to close Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and the last remaining Secure Training Centre; steps to improve the safety and wellbeing of children in custody, and workforce culture; measures to improve outcomes and experiences for specific groups of children including racially minoritised children, girls, and children on remand; learning lessons from past and present; and improved measurement of performance and outcomes.

We understand external context has changed during the strategy’s development, with a new government elected and a forthcoming Spending Review. While we understand the YCS may feel certain calls for change are now outside their scope, we are clear that whichever government body is responsible, any strategy for youth custody will only stand a chance of success if it includes the transformative change detailed in our paper.

Read the full paper here.