In this recap post with video clips, we look back at the launch of ‘From Exploited to Exploiter? Preventing the unjust criminalisation of victims of child criminal exploitation in the transition to adulthood’. The event inclued an in introduction to the report, a panel discussion with Dr Grace Robinson, Dez Holmes, Aika Stephenson, and AYJ’s Okala Elesia, and looked at the steps needed to ensure protection continues into young adulthood to prevent the unjust criminalisation of victims.

This blog looks at the VASA panel in the London boroughs of Richmond and Kingston. The panel brings together local services – social care, housing, health, education, police, and the voluntary sector – to review cases of 18–25-year-olds at risk of exploitation or violence.

This blog, in conversation with a youth worker for The Children’s Society (TCS) in Nottinghamshire, examines how TCS helps children and young adults affected by child criminal exploitation.

This blog, in conversation with Adam Elliott, a former AYJ Young Advocate and the founder of The Long Game, explores how child criminal exploitation works and looks at the role of peer-led youth work in the sector.

This blog, in conversation with two frontline practitioners at Abianda, explores how Abianda builds trust with young women and girls affected by child criminal exploitation.

This blog captures reflections from Abianda’s Young Women’s Advisory Group,  exploring what meaningful support should look like. Their insights highlight how services can shift power, build trust, and take a trauma-informed, participatory approach that supports girls and young women affected by exploitation as they move into adulthood.

In this blog, we reflect on this year’s AYJ AGM and members’ meeting, which brought together members and experts to ask: how far have we come in reimagining youth justice? We share key takeaways from the event — including insights from our panel of speakers — and look ahead to the work still to be done.

In this blog, we speak to Zahbia Yousuf at Maslaha — a grassroots organisation new to AYJ membership. Maslaha work to challenge the root causes of Islamophobia. Zahbia reflects on how the education system fails to meet the needs of racialised young people, the importance of creative, culturally responsive spaces, and why change must be shaped by those most affected.

AYJ CEO, Jess Mullen, writes to update our members and partners — reflecting on what we’ve been working on together so far this year and looking ahead to what’s coming up next.

In this blog, Gess Aird, the CEO of Kinetic Youth speaks to the rich history of youth work in the UK and outlines how those methodologies inform the important work Kinetic do with children and young people caught up in the secure estate.

In this blog, Laura Janes, from AYJ member the Youth Practitioners’ Association, asks what it will take to create a well-resourced secure estate that caters to the distinct needs of children and young adults.

In this analysis piece, John Drew CBE, AYJ board member and former CEO of the YJB, reflects on the decision to change the age young people transition to the adult estate from 18 to 19.

The AYJ shares our positions on the essential elements of a strategic approach to the children’s secure estate, gathered with members and fed into the development of the YCS Youth Custody Strategy.

AYJ comment on HMI Prisons’ reports Children in Custody 2023-24 and Feltham A YOI Independent Review of Progress

AYJ CEO Jess Mullen reflects on the importance of this year’s Black History Month theme ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ for Black and racially minoritised children in, or at risk of involvement in, the youth justice system

Longford prize winners Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA) share a quest blog as a new AYJ member, about the harms of joint enterprise and the change needed

As part of our project exploring the experiences of young people transitioning into adulthood whilst in the justice system, the AYJ team visited the Youth to Adult Hub in Newham, London, to learn about the pilot approach to probation

For our project exploring the experiences of young people transitioning into adulthood while in the justice system, we spoke to Sammy, founder of Wipers Youth CIC, about the organisation’s critical work with children and young people

Saqib Deshmukh reflects on all that he’s learned and enjoyed this year as he departs from his role as AYJ’s Interim CEO.

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.