I've also hung around with young offenders, done youth work with them, researched aspects of their lives, and served on the Youth Justice Board (YJB). So, as I sometimes quip, I've witnessed the youth justice system from all sides - except inside.
The YJB's Prevention and Inclusion Sub-Committee, which I chaired, worked hard on the development of a range of prevention programmes. Sometimes these are given considerable credit for the dramatic fall in the numbers in youth custody. It would be satisfying to think that we put in place measures that slowed down the flow of young people into the criminal justice system, and shifted its custom and practice towards diversion, prevention and early intervention. However, there were many other factors that played their part in the changing profile of youth justice.
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