Evidence for Justice Committee Review of Children and Young People in Custody

Description of impact

Claire's research on the social impact of custody on young people was used as evidence for the Justice Committee's major inquiry on children and young people in custody (Paterson-Young et al., 2017; Paterson-Young, 2018; Paterson-Young et al., 2019). The review was launched to investigate how the young offender population has changed and what the challenges are in managing this group, whether the secure estate is a fit and proper place to hold children and young people, as well as arrangements for resettlement and rehabilitation. The main points in Claire's evidence submission were:

1) Education provisions need to be age-appropriate and geared towards improving opportunities for children and young people on release from custody. For example, apprenticeship opportunities to commence in the custodial environment and continue in the community.

2) Provisions to enable children and young people to learn the independence skills that will allow them to transition from custody to the community and, when the time comes, adulthood are required. For example, the development of an independence learning programme (see Paterson-Young et al. 2019) that enable young people to progress.

3) Stable and secure accommodation for children and young people on release from custody has a central role in supporting children and children and young people to achieve positive outcomes and reduce future offending.

4) Support for staff working in Secure Training Centres requires a significant overhaul to ensure the environment supports and empowers staff. This would help to improve organisational capacity, promote personal growth and enhance service delivery.

5) Training for staff working in Secure Training Centres requires development to ensure staff are prepared for the challenges of working in custody and the challenges of working with children and young people with, often, complex needs.

6) Evaluation of all custodial environments would benefit from a social impact measurement approach. This approach would allow the organisations running custodial environments, and inspectors/auditors, to review and identify children and young people’s progress in custodial placements.

Claire's research, and the evidence submission, provides a clearer understanding of the impact of custody on children in custody (Paterson-Young et al., 2017 and Paterson-Young, 2018). For example, the evidence submission outlines the lack of support for staff working in Secure Training Centres. It calls for a change to the environment in order to ensure staff are supported and empowered.

Stakeholders/Beneficiaries

Children, Young People, Staff, Justice Committee, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board

How have research outputs led to this impact?

Claire's research explores the social impact of custody on young people in the criminal justice system (Paterson-Young, 2018). She seeks to articulate an alternative vision for youth justice, one that is centred on the young people’s holistic needs, in a manner that deals with the underlying causes of their criminal behaviour (abuse, trauma, education, and personal agency etc.) (Paterson-Young et al., 2017; Paterson-Young, 2018; and Paterson-Young et al., 2019). Claire's research has illustrated that social impact measurement (the intended and unintended, positive and negative impact of services/interventions) provides an opportunity to begin to reframe the debates and narratives within youth justice towards a young person centred approach to welfare and rehabilitation, rather than punitive approaches to what society sees as ‘problem’ children (Paterson-Young et al., 2019). Through this holistic framework, institutions and stakeholders within youth justice are made accountable for the outcomes achieved by young people, essentially reducing offending and improving positive outcomes for young people. This work has been published as evidence for the Justice Committee's inquiry into children and young people in custody.

Impact status	Completed
Impact date	16 Oct 2019
Category of impact	Social impacts, Health and Well-Being impacts, Quality of life impacts, 03: Good Health and Well-Being (UN SDG), 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (UN SDG), 04: Quality Education (UN SDG)
Impact level	Mid Stage Impact