The Youth Justice System’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This briefing presents the significant challenges for the children’s secure estate that lie ahead in the wake of the pandemic. It examines existing failures pre-pandemic, the significant risk of harm to children in custody as a result of experiences during the pandemic, failures in strategy for the children’s secure estate, and the government projection that the number of children in custody will steeply rise in coming years.

Today, AYJ publishes the third of three policy briefings for our ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Justice’ research project, examining the significant challenges for the children’s secure estate that lie ahead in the wake of the pandemic.

Jennifer Downie and Ben Twomey of NYAS discuss the impact of COVID-19 on children in secure children’s homes, increased strains on welfare placements, and the future of secure care post-pandemic.

Dr Anne-Marie Day, Lecturer in Criminology at Keele University, discusses the right for children to be treated as children in custody and calls for a higher standard of care for these children, most of whom go into the harmful and abusive custody environment when they are at crisis point.

Dr Laura Janes, Youth Justice lawyer and campaigner, discusses the isolation, mental health challenges and loss of essential life experiences and education endured by children in the secure estate during COVID-19.

In continuation with our research project, conducted collaboratively with the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies at MMU and funded by UK Research and Innovation, we hosted a parliamentary event exploring how to ensure that the criminalisation of children is a last resort post-pandemic.

On Wednesday 27th April 2022, the AYJ with the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies hosted a hybrid event at Manchester Metropolitan University, to examine the findings of our joint research project exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the youth justice system.

Today, AYJ publishes the second of three policy briefings for our ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Justice’ research project, which considers key challenges for the youth justice system that have been brought about, aggravated or accentuated by the pandemic, and demonstrates how the youth justice system is at a critical juncture.

This briefing considers key challenges for the youth justice system that have been brought about, aggravated or accentuated by the pandemic. It demonstrates how the youth justice system is at a critical juncture, considers future directions for justice for children, and calls for lessons to be learnt from experiences during the pandemic.

Today, AYJ publishes the first of three policy briefings for our ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Justice’ research project. The briefing presents the significant risk of a surge in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system following the pandemic.

This briefing explores the significant risk of a surge in the number of children drawn into the justice system following the pandemic as a result of the exacerbation of children’s vulnerabilities, support services under severe strain, and the complex and challenging policy context.

Winston Goode, CEO and Founder of Juvenis, discusses their DIVERT Youth programme and the components which make up successful diversion including a multi-agency approach, mental health support, and long-term funding which prioritses relationship-building and family and community connections.

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.

The exceptional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the youth justice system are documented in a new report published today. The comprehensive report finds that COVID-19 has devastatingly exacerbated the issues faced by children affected by the youth 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.

AYJ members share their reflections in a series of blogs, as part of The Youth Justice System’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic research project. We invited our members and the wider youth justice sector to share their experiences of the pandemic and how this impacted their work.

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.

“From schools closing to social isolation, there is no question that children in England are being severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Children involved with the youth justice system are facing unique challenges at this trying time, including some being locked up for nearly 23 hours a day in detention training centres.

In this unprecedented public health emergency, our members and stakeholders are working intensively through the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be implications for all children and young people in our communities, particular challenges for those in the youth justice system, and exceptionally critical risks for children in custody. Over the past few weeks, we have been working with our members to gather information and insight, enabling us to highlight issues and make practical suggestions.