Youth workers could be deployed in police stations 'to tackle disproportionality'

In the year ending March 2019, black children were more than four times more likely to be arrested than white children, and while the total number of under-18s in custody in England and Wales has fallen dramatically since 2010, the proportion of detained young people who are BAME has been rising - topping 50 per cent for the first time last year.

An update report on tackling disparity in the criminal justice system, published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), reveals that work is being done to provide more support through the custody process, amid concerns that BAME young people are more likely to give no comment during interviews, potentially reducing the likelihood of an out-of-court disposal.

The report reveals that the MoJ is monitoring the outcomes of the Metropolitan Police’s pilot of the “Engage Project”, which sees independent youth workers made available at Camden and Islington police stations, to engage young people and identify support needs.

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The youth workers meet young people who are not already known to the YOT or social services within 48 hours of being released and complete a family support plan that signposts them to relevant services. The youth workers continue to work with the family until they feel significant progress has been made.

“This is currently being evaluated by London Metropolitan University,” the report states.

“We will continue to liaise with them to understand the benefits of independent community youth workers in this setting.”

The pilot is funded with £200,000 of Home Office money. Three youth workers based with the youth offending teams in Islington and Camden currently see all under-18s detained in Holborn and Islington custody suites with the aim of reaching them at a “teachable moment” and helping them pursue education, employment, or training opportunities.

The project bears similarities to a successful hospital-based youth work service, run by Redthread, which announced last month it will expand to three more hospitals.

Redthread started its early intervention programme at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell 14 years ago and currently supports 11- to 24-year-olds involved in or at risk of criminal exploitation and gang violence at seven sites across the London and the Midlands.

Meanwhile, in light of research finding that children and young people do not always utilise their right to legal advice, as they do not always understand what it means, the solicitor’s role, or how it could benefit them, the report reveals that MoJ policy teams and the Legal Aid Agency are working closely to ensure that young people engage with legal advice in the police station.

“This includes exploring the potential for children to opt-out of, rather than into, receiving legal advice,” the report states.

The report is the second update on progress in relation to David Lammy’s 2017 review of the over-representation of BAME people in the criminal justice system – the first progress report being published in 2018.

It also outlines how a three-year pilot programme supported by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) will use sport in a bid to improve life outcomes of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) young people.

The Alliance of Sport “Levelling the Playing Field” project has secured funding of £1.7m, for an initiative aimed at using the power of sport and physical activity to engage and improve health and life outcomes for more than 11,200 BAME children who are at risk of entering, or who are already involved in the criminal justice system across England and Wales.

The YJB is also overseeing the development of an employment programme.

"To address some of the pre-arrest factors identified in [previous research], the YJB is seeking to influence issues, such as employability, and the role of sport as a means of diverting BAME children from the criminal justice system and helping them desist from harmful behaviour."

"To help improve the opportunities for BAME children, the YJB is working with partners to develop an employment model that improves the flow between services, including job readiness, mentoring, apprenticeships and traineeships.”