There is a significant risk of a surge in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system following the pandemic, a report by the Alliance for Youth Justice has found.
The briefing finds:
The briefing highlights a ‘perfect storm’ for children at risk, as a result of the exacerbation of children’s vulnerabilities, support services being under severe strain, and the complex and challenging policy context.
“The wide-ranging impacts on children’s social, emotional and mental health needs are yet to be fully realised, and are widely projected to be profound,” said the report. “Children are living in an unstable world, experiencing lengthy periods of isolation, disruption and uncertainty. They are increasingly disenfranchised, disengaged and dealing with trauma as a result of their experiences during the pandemic.”
“Poverty, inequality and housing instability were increasing pre-pandemic and are worsening,2 with significant psychological and behavioural implications on children, 3 and research emphasising the link between poverty and offending,” the report added.
The research goes on to highlight:
“We argue that strong leadership and co-ordinated action are required to address the impacts of the pandemic and prevent an influx of children into the youth justice system. We call for vulnerable children to be at the heart of policy and practice, and concerted efforts to maximise diversion of children to positive pathways outside of the justice system. We make a number of recommendations for policymakers and commissioners,” the briefing concludes.
New Deprivation of Liberty court launch for children
A National Deprivation of Liberty Court dealing specifically with applications relating to deprive children of their liberty has been announced by Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division.
The court will deal with applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty and will be based at the Royal Courts of Justice under the [...]
Independent review into CSE in Oldham finds child protection procedures were not followed
Some children have been failed by the agencies that were meant to protect them because child protection procedures had not been properly followed, an independent assurance review into historic child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Oldham has found.
Evidence of poor practice was attributed to a structural flaw the review team found in the multi-agency system [...]
Sixty Second Interview with Chloe Bach
Find out more about our Business Administrator Chloe Bach who has been with WillisPalmer since 2009.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee (oat milk latte)
What 3 things would you put in Room 101?
Migraines, slugs and war
What is your favourite place in the world?
Wherever my family is (but I do love New York)
If you were on death row what [...]
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