AYJ CEO Jess Mullen reflects on the importance of this year’s Black History Month theme ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ for Black and racially minoritised children in, or at risk of involvement in, the youth justice system

Our new briefing, Setting the youth justice agenda, urges the government to take bold action to reform the youth justice system. We set out changes new Ministers must prioritise to ensure a safeguarding response to vulnerable children, end racial injustice, and ensure that custody is a last resort.

This briefing urges the government to take bold action to reimagine youth justice. We set out changes new Ministers must prioritise to ensure a safeguarding response to vulnerable children, end racial injustice, and guarantee that custody is a last resort.

This second report from the Young Advocates Project presents findings from engagement with 90 children and young people across England and Wales, and focuses on the three priority topics of criminalisation, policing, and intervention and diversion. The aim was to explore the routes into the justice system for young people, as compared to pathways out and away from it.

On 8th February we held a launch event for our report on supporting racially minoritised young people transitioning to adulthood, bringing together policymakers, voluntary and community sector organisations, and young people.

This briefing, part of a project funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust, explores how racially minoritised young people experience particularly destabilising transitions to adulthood due to deficits in support before and after turning 18. It highlights the crucial role the ‘by and for’ voluntary and community sector plays in addressing these shortfalls.

The AYJ has published a report calling for reforms to ensure that as racially minoritised young people in the criminal justice system turn 18, the ‘by and for’ voluntary and community sector is there to support them.

AYJ Policy Manager Millie Harris reflects on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)’s report on the UK’s performance on it’s international obligations on children’s rights, which calls out the Government for a lack of progress on youth justice.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its Concluding Observations on the UK, setting out its concerns and recommendations regarding children’s rights

We’ve published an Evidence Review providing a comprehensive overview of the policy context and existing literature surrounding the experiences of young people in transition in the criminal justice system, as part of our research project funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust.

This evidence review, part of a three-year project on transition into adulthood funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust, summarises the policy context and existing evidence on young people turning 18 in the criminal justice system.

The AYJ’s Interim CEO Saqib Deshmukh reflects on the findings of Baroness Casey’s independent review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service.

As part of the AYJ’s project in which we work to understand the experiences of children transitioning into the adult justice system, we speak with Leroy Logan MBE about the significance of research, discussion and policy focus in this area.

Today, the final civil society report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, as part of its examination of the UK, has been published. 97 children’s charities from across England have warned that critical children’s rights issues must be urgently addressed by the UK Government to prevent worsening impacts on the most vulnerable children.

As Black History Month draws to a close, our Policy and Communications Officer Mia Edwards reflects on the historic roots and present-day manifestations of racial disparity in the youth justice system.

The AYJ has responded to the Children’s Rights Alliance for England’s (CRAE) call for written evidence to inform the Civil Society Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 2022.

This first report from the Young Advocates Project presents findings from engagement with over 120 young people across England and Wales, and focuses on the three priority topics of stereotypes, education and warning signs, and jail (custody). The aim was to identify patterns that run through society, and the education and justice systems overall, to find out what young people feel increases the chance of entering the justice system.

This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing policy, practice and research literature about the impacts of COVID-19 on the youth justice system. The review considers the impacts of the pandemic across each stage of the youth justice system, bringing together findings from community-based responses, the courts, and the secure estate.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, currently at Committee Stage in the House of Commons, introduces a whole host of provisions with a range of impacts across the youth justice system. Our Committee Stage briefing examines the proposals.

AYJ comments on the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and summarises our recent work to address racial injustice in the youth justice system.