According to charity the Revolving Doors Agency, last year, over 50,000 cautions or convictions were given to young adults (aged 18-24) for non-violent offences such as theft despite evidence showing that young adults, who enter the criminal justice system for relatively minor offences also have the highest rates of repeat offending.
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The new coalition, led by the Revolving Doors Agency, aims to provide research-based early intervention services in a bid to tackle the root causes of reoffending including poverty and adverse childhood experiences.
It also aims to work towards policy changes to provide added support to reoffenders aged over 18.
The Revolving Doors Agency says: “The preventative measures taken by police and youth offending teams, such as triaging into support services and restorative approaches, reduced the number of children entering the criminal justice system in the first place. However, these approaches tend to cut off sharply at the age of 18, regardless of the individual’s maturity or level of need.”
The Agency today announced its partnership with police and crime commissioners and police services in Cleveland, Durham, Humberside, Leicestershire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Midlands.
“These trailblazers will provide much needed leadership to address trauma and poverty, and promote innovation to support young adults away from the criminal justice system,” it adds.
Lord Willy Bach, Leicestershire police and crime commissioner and chair of the East Midlands criminal justice board, said: “This new partnership will ensure adverse childhood experiences and the barriers to success young people face are given the attention they deserve.
“It is critical that the solutions we develop as criminal justice professionals strike at the root of the problem and help young people overcome the issues holding them back before they experience crisis.”
Keith Hunter, police and crime commissioner for Humberside, added: “The young person themselves can become a productive member of society and the upset and costs associated with being a victim of even relatively minor crime can be avoided for many people.
“The costs and consequences of the mass imprisonment of these persistent offenders can also be avoided allowing prison to be used to punish and rehabilitate more serious offenders more effectively. I’m very happy to support this project and look forward to its conclusions.”
Nathan Dick, head of policy at the Revolving Doors Agency said: “We know repeat low-level offending is driven by poverty, trauma and discrimination. These are crimes of despair. If we address the causes of crime, we will make communities safer and free up our police to deal with more serious, organised and violent crime.”
