Find out what we’ve been up to in the month of June!

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.

This symposium on the policing of children brought together AYJ members and wider stakeholders to identify good and bad practice, discuss failures in policy, legislation, regulation, and guidance, determine solutions and develop AYJ policy positions.

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

Find out what we’ve been up to in the month of May!

For the first in the AYJ’s podcast series focused around our policy priority of 'Reframing Violence', we speak with Luke Billingham and Adam Elliott to explore how society perceives children involved in serious violence, how and why this perception is shaped, and whether this perception is accurate.

In April 2023 we conducted a membership survey. The results from the survey are informing decisions about the way we run member events and engage with members in the future.

On 25th April 2023, a selection of the Young Advocates attended the first evidence session of the APPG on Children in Police Custody’s Inquiry into Achieving the Rights of Children in Police Custody.

AYJ comment on Urgent Notification process invoked for Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institution

Find out what we’ve been up to in the months of February, March and April!

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.

On Tuesday 19th April, the AYJ hosted our quarterly Members’ Meeting, featuring the Executive Director of the Youth Custody Service Ed Cornmell. Read more about the meeting here.

After the success of their first youth-led report, the Young Advocates have been travelling to different areas of England and Wales to schools and secure facilities to conduct a new round of their own first-hand research.

The AYJ has responded to a consultation on a new Policy Framework and supporting guidance on safeguarding and child protection for secure settings in the Youth Custody Service.

We speak with Agnes Wootton, Re-Frame Service Manager at With You, about the importance of the programme for vulnerable children, and the research behind it.

Comment from AYJ Interim Chief Executive Saqib Deshmukh following the publication of data analysis from the Children’s Commissioner for England on the strip search of children in England and Wales.

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.