Justice and youth work partnerships 'key to continued support' for racially minoritised young people
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Improved partnerships between justice services and youth workers are needed to better support racially minoritised young people when they transition between children’s and adult services, according to a report.
The link ups are necessary to avert “a steep cliff edge” in support young people from minoritised backgrounds face when they reach 18.
Currently they experience “deficits in support” before and after turning 18, says the report by the Alliance for Youth Justice.
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Challenges they face include “stereotyping, racial prejudices and unconscious biases”. This includes “adultification” of young people.
The AYJ highlights a “lack of cultural” support in the youth justice system to meet racially minoritised young people’s needs.
It says this can be improved by better communication between youth offending team (YOT) and youth workers, including training about the provision each offers.
Currently such link ups are “poor”, warns the AYJ in its report Bridging gaps and changing tracks.
This is despite the “invaluable work and expertise” provided by youth workers, particularly those in racially minoritised communities.
The charity’s report urges justice services not to treat youth worker involvement in young people’s lives as “an afterthought or add on”.
Instead, it should be a “critical component working alongside the criminal justice system”.
💡NEW REPORT OUT NOW💡
— AYJ (@the_AYJ) February 6, 2024
Our research calls for action to ensure as racially minoritised young people turn 18, the ‘by and for’ voluntary & community sector is there to support them - bridging gaps in statutory services and building brighter futures
➡️ https://t.co/116PPMHj5c
One young person interviewed described how they would like to see support improved when transitioning from children to adult services.
“There needs to be more… people with lived experience, working alongside people who understand the system, as a mentor, to be able to say, ‘OK, I’ll guide you and do the formalities. You go and stand by what you believe and make a difference’,” they said.
A lecturer and community organisations advisor interviewed welcomed this peer mentor approach to supporting young people when they reach 18.
“One of the things I’m a real advocate for is peer mentoring – someone who’s been through that transition, those challenges – you know, when you’re going from YOT to adult services – having someone who’s been through that to help you navigate it,” they said.
The AYJ is urging the Youth Justice Board to require youth offending teams to report on partnerships with youth workers.
Its report points out that more than a quarter of children in the youth justice system are racially minoritised.
A separate report by Dr Ron Dodzro, clinical psychologist and researcher and Winston Goode, chief executive of youth charity Juvenis, funded by the University of Hertfordshire, calls for mental health services to be reformed to “encompass the lived and living experiences of black men living in violent communities”.
The Life of a Top Boy report on trauma and violence in the community includes a recommendation for statutory service providers need to develop therapeutic spaces that allow black men to feel safe to discuss their violent experiences.
It also calls for more research to be carried out on the impact of gang violence on the mental health of young black men.
The report is based on interviews with eight young black men in London to gather the stories of their lived experiences of gang-affiliated violence and trauma.
