Youth to Adult Hub: a new approach to supporting young adults on probation
As part of our project exploring the experiences of young people transitioning into adulthood whilst in contact with the justice system, the AYJ team visited the Youth to Adult Hub in Newham, London. We learned about how the Hub combines the expertise of statutory and voluntary services to support young adults during this turbulent period of change.
What is the Hub?
The pilot Hub is a first-of-its-kind probation centre that supports young adults aged 18-25 under probation supervision, some of whom are transitioning from the youth to adult justice system. Around 320 young people are enrolled at the Hub at one time; mostly in the community, with some in custody and being supported in preparation for their release.
Working co-located alongside Probation Officers are a range of statutory and voluntary sector organisations providing crucial support to help young people overcome often complex circumstances, to help them to desist from crime and find stability. This includes an in-house psychologist and mentors, speech and language therapy, services tailored to young adults that guide them through housing and substance misuse, and specialist organisations providing meaningful activities and working with particular groups such as young women. The commissioning process takes a localised approach, which means that the expertise of grassroots and often Black-led organisations is deployed to make sure that young people receive specialist support from those with first-hand understanding of their experiences.
How does the Hub help young people transitioning into adulthood whilst in contact with the justice system?
As young people transition into the adult justice system, they lose valuable access to child-centred service provision, which is considered to be more empathetic and restorative than the support provided in adult Probation, which is much more focussed on enforcement and risk. However, the Hub’s wrap-around and age-specific approach to service provision means that young adults are provided with a degree of consistency and continuity of care often lost to young people as they transition from Youth Justice Services (YJS) to Probation. The Hub’s seconded Probation Officer to the local YJS (where the officer manages a child’s case as they approach 18 and then transition into Probation) described how the enhanced services available at the Hub means they can introduce the young person to their new set of services, joining hands and sharing information, rather than preparing them for what is often a cliff edge in support.
The Hub’s probation staff also have lower caseloads and receive enhanced training, which differs from the normal training for probation staff in its greater focus on trauma and care. A new way of responding to young people who breach their orders is being piloted, taking a more flexible and understanding approach. The young people’s achievements within the centre are celebrated by staff and their peers, with graduation ceremonies held for those who complete their time there.
These differences, and the passion in the workforce for working with this age group, means the Hub provides young people with support more akin to a YJS, with hopes this is fostering better engagement and outcomes for young people.
What does the future hold?
The Hub opened in April 2022. Originally funded by His Majesty’s Treasury until March 2023, the team has managed to extend the pilot by securing funding from MOPAC, Barrow Cadbury Trust, London Probation and others until March 2024. The Hub is currently in the process of being evaluated, with promising initial findings, but despite receiving excellent feedback from the young people in contact with it, its future remains uncertain. As does the possibility that similar Hubs could be rolled out in other locations around the country.
Without a specific approach for young adults in contact with the justice system, the disparities that begin in the youth justice system risk being further entrenched, or even worsened as young people transition into adulthood. Learning from the pilot and securing the rollout of similar Hubs is vital for this critical period of transition to be used as an opportunity to reinforce engagement with, and trust in, criminal justice services, and to turn young people’s lives around.
You can find out more about the Hub here, and more information about our Transitions project can be found here.