Bami Jolaoso, Innovative Practice Officer at the Centre for Justice Innovation, calls for greater awareness of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impeded children's engagement with and access to effective diversion, placing a particular focus on vulnerability, partnership working, and racial disproportionality.

StopWatch, which works to ensure fair and accountable policing in the UK, discusses inappropriate and ineffective police stop and searches on children, highlighting the shameful racial inequalities which persist and calling for higher standards and more oversight on the practice.

Anne Longfield, Chair of the Commission on Young Lives, highlights the reality of the exacerbated issues faced by vulnerable children and families following the COVID-19 pandemic, and calls for deep-rooted reform of the services that should be supporting them, as well as the way in which they are viewed by Government and society.

AYJ Communications Officer Millie Hall visits AYJ Associate Member Luke Billingham to find out more about his wide-reaching work within the youth justice sector. Read for a whistle-stop tour of some of Luke’s key interests including tackling serious violence, the significance of sport cages, and also his motivations.

AYJ Director, Pippa Goodfellow, writes to update our members, partners and colleagues mid-way through the year, reflecting on our work together so far in 2021 and looking ahead to plans in the coming months.

AYJ speaks to Youth Justice Consultant, Michael O’Connor, on how Covid-19 has impacted his work in youth justice and how he has adapted to this unprecedented year.

AYJ member Khulisa, a national charity that provides wellbeing support to vulnerable young people in schools and prisons, talks us through how Covid-19 has impacted their work in youth justice and how they have adapted to this unprecedented year.

Caroline Liggins, Criminal Defence Solicitor and Chair of the Youth Practitioners’ Association, reflects upon developments since her AYJ blog post, published back in July 2020, on the impact of COVID-19 on children in the youth justice system.

Young people and professionals alike have often highlighted the challenge of the ‘cliff-edge’ facing young people as they turn 18 – and much has been done in recent years to address this in certain parts of the system. Services for those with special educational needs and disabilities are available for many – though by no means all – until the age of 25…

My experiences as both a practitioner and a researcher provide insight and understanding of the representational and structural barriers that affect young Black women and girls before and during transition through the justice system…

Many children in care do not come into conflict with the law, and do well despite serious failings in our systems. Whilst over 60% of children are looked after in England principally due to ‘abuse or neglect’, just 1% of children enter care specifically because of their own behaviour, despite popular perceptions continuing to link care experience with trouble…

The importance of planning in helping girls to transition effectively from supervision by a youth offending service (YOS) to the National Probation Service (NPS) when a girl reaches 18 years of age, cannot be underestimated. Seldom is a girl with a YOS for such as short period that such planning cannot be achieved…

Millie Hall, Communications Assistant at the Alliance for Youth Justice, speaks to Andy Peaden, Director at The Skill Mill - one of AYJ’s newest members!

As her final week with us draws to a close, Amania Scott-Samuels, our Policy and Engagement Assistant, shares reflections on some of the things she has learned in her time at the AYJ.

Get to know our Board Member - Lesley Tregear of the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers.

Get to know one of our newest Board Members - Hannah Couchman, Barrister at Rights of Women.

Get to know one of our newest Board Members, Gavin McKenna, Founder of Reach Every Generation.

Get to know the Deputy Chair of the AYJ - Gess Aird, Director of KINETIC.

Get to know the Chair of the AYJ - Hannah Smithson!

Millie Hall, Communications Assistant at the Alliance for Youth Justice, speaks to Craig Pinkney, Founder of SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict - one of AYJ’s newest members!