AYJ is deeply concerned by the Government’s decision to extend the use of PAVA incapacitant spray in children’s custody until August 2027. We are calling for an end to PAVA use and urgent reform of the youth custody estate, with investment in smaller, child-centred and trauma-informed settings.

Read about how the feedback of our members, Young Advocates alumni, partners and key stakeholders has informed our new strategic approach. This strategy wasn't built in a vacuum; it is the result of deep listening, honest challenge, and a shared commitment to the children and young people we serve.

AYJ Response: College of Policing consultation on updated Authorised Preofessional Practice guidance on Stop and Search.

To ensure consistency across all published materials, this guide sets out clear communication standards for our team. Grounded in our core values, this guide aims to ensure that the language we use is rights based, child centred and challenges systemic inequality. We are sharing this resource in the hope that it proves useful for members own communications.

Read our response to the Government’s youth justice white paper.

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.

This briefing calls on the government to protect and promote a child centred children’s secure estate, with custody only ever a last resort. It also calls for developing a distinct approach to custody for young adults.

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

Our new briefing, Setting the youth justice agenda, urges the government to take bold action to reform the youth justice system. We set out changes new Ministers must prioritise to ensure a safeguarding response to vulnerable children, end racial injustice, and ensure that custody is a last resort.

This briefing urges the government to take bold action to reimagine youth justice. We set out changes new Ministers must prioritise to ensure a safeguarding response to vulnerable children, end racial injustice, and guarantee that custody is a last resort.

Our statement following racist riots across the UK and subsequent arrests, including of a significant number of children

This second report from the Young Advocates Project presents findings from engagement with 90 children and young people across England and Wales, and focuses on the three priority topics of criminalisation, policing, and intervention and diversion. The aim was to explore the routes into the justice system for young people, as compared to pathways out and away from it.

On 8th February we held a launch event for our report on supporting racially minoritised young people transitioning to adulthood, bringing together policymakers, voluntary and community sector organisations, and young people.

This briefing, part of a project funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust, explores how racially minoritised young people experience particularly destabilising transitions to adulthood due to deficits in support before and after turning 18. It highlights the crucial role the ‘by and for’ voluntary and community sector plays in addressing these shortfalls.

The AYJ has published a report calling for reforms to ensure that as racially minoritised young people in the criminal justice system turn 18, the ‘by and for’ voluntary and community sector is there to support them.

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.

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

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.

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.