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!

Join us in our launching event for the AYJ, as we ask the question ‘how could we reimagine ‘justice’ for children?’ - the first in a series of #AYJasks…

AYJ Comments on Justice Select Committee inquiry reports, the government response and a new HMI Prisons review, all published this week. These reports provide welcome scrutiny of the youth justice system but the inquiry has missed opportunities for recommendations to bring about urgently needed reform in key areas of policy.

Three important publications released this week have shone further light on the issues faced by children in the youth justice system. We detail key findings and highlight critical concerns, particularly for children in custody, calling for urgent action to address the problems that persist.

Pippa Goodfellow, Director of the AYJ, comments on HM Inspectorate of Prisons annual report on children’s experiences in custody, outlining the need for a clear strategy, with the bold and decisive action to address the “appalling experiences and conditions in youth custody.”

We are delighted to announce our relaunch as the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ), today, marking a new and exciting phase for the organisation previously known as the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ). The AYJ brings together over 70 non-profit organisations, advocating for and with children to drive positive change in youth justice in England and Wales.

AYJ Director, Pippa Goodfellow, reflects on the process of relaunching as the Alliance of Youth Justice (AYJ). She outlines the reasons for revisiting and refreshing the organisation’s purpose, activities and objectives - to lay strong foundations to achieve greater engagement and impact in the future.

Our Director Pippa Goodfellow writes to wish our members, partners and colleagues a Happy New Year, reflecting on our work together through 2020 and looking ahead to plans for 2021.

Along with Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk, we are publishing our literature review as part of the Young Women’s Justice Project which shines a light on the experiences of young  women aged 17–25  years old in contact with the criminal justice system, including the experiences of girls transitioning into adult services as they turn 18.

The Damilola Taylor Trust established 7th December as the first national ‘Day of Hope’ on Damilola’s birthday, to celebrate the hopes of young people. This was a perfect opportunity for the Young Advocates to share their inspiring progress in their first presentation to a group of AYJ members and experts from the youth justice sector.

The Government’s sentencing white paper outlines plans to reform the criminal records system. While we warmly welcome these reforms, we believe we can and should go further for children, and are calling on the Government to conduct a wide ranging review of the system to ensure it is child-specific and better reflects the nature of childhood offending.

The Government’s sentencing white paper sets out proposals for reform of the legislation governing remand to custody for children. We support the decision to revisit the threshold for the remand of children into custody, particularly given the Government’s stated aim that remand to custody should be used only as a last resort for children.

We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Home Office consultation on Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs). We consulted widely with our members to ensure that the breadth and depth of their expertise informs our submission to the consultation.

Amania Scott-Samuels, our Policy and Engagement Assistant, shares an exciting update about our Youth Justice Young Advocates project, including priority issues identified for their peer research, how they have already been involved in influencing decision-making and opportunities to get involved.

We are delighted to welcome 7 new members of our board! With these new additions, the board’s expertise has been expanded with young people’s perspectives, grassroots and community-based frontline experience, communications expertise, and strengthening our work to address racial injustice in the youth justice system.

Pippa Goodfellow (Director of the AYJ) and Hannah Smithson (Chair of the AYJ) comment on the publication of the Sentencing White Paper by the Ministry of Justice, describing proposals as a ‘mixed bag’ of reforms for the youth justice system.

Childhood criminal records are undermining positive developments across the youth justice system. In a new briefing, we have considered how the current criminal records system acts as a barrier to the priorities and goals wished to be achieved by the Youth Justice Board, as set out in their new strategy.

Welcome developments in youth justice are being undermined by the current childhood criminal records system, strengthening the timely call for a widespread review. Criminal records are so clearly intertwined with a range of further issues in the wider criminal justice system and are actively impeding the efforts of government and civil society to tackle pressing issues like racial disparity and addressing the impact of violence and exploitation.