A new report published on Friday November 29th by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank puts forward an evidence-based plan to provide targeted action to divert vulnerable young people away from criminal exploitation and harm by focusing on keeping children in school, rolling out mental health hubs in areas of disadvantage, and delivering better identification and support.
Written by researchers from the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre and co-authored by ARC Yorkshire & Humber researchers, the report, “An evidence-based plan for addressing childhood vulnerability, crime and justice”, is the eleventh in a series of Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives reports to be published during 2024 to support the Government’s ambitious Opportunity Mission for children. The reports argue that putting the interests and life chances of children at the heart of policy making and delivery is crucial to the UK’s future success.
The report shows how every year, thousands of children become involved in the criminal justice system or become victims of serious violence or crime. While increasingly fewer young people are going into secure custody, most children involved in the criminal justice system share similar experiences of childhood adversity, including poverty, unmet SEND, exclusion from school, abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence, addiction, or mental ill-health at home.
The report shows how:
- 8 in 10 young people in the youth justice system were identified as having SEND
- 85% of boys in Young Offender Institutions have previously been excluded from school
- While 94% of looked after children in England and Wales do not get into trouble with the law, approximately half of the children in custody have been in care at some point.
The report also shows how the likelihood of young people being drawn into the criminal justice system is strongly influenced by where they live, their race, ethnic and cultural heritage, experiences of care, and levels of deprivation.
It follows a study published by Ofsted and other agencies earlier in November revealing that children as young as 11 years old were found to be carrying knives for protection, and highlighting the links between the increase in violence and exploitation of children in “county lines” run by criminal gangs.
Recent analysis by the Centre for Young Lives has also revealed how cases of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) have increased sharply over the last two years, with children identified by social services almost 40,000 times over the last year as victims of criminal or sexual exploitation, or being involved in gangs. Yet, as research published last week by the Youth Endowment Fund shows, just 12% of children involved in serious violence receive support to prevent future harm.
Today’s Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report puts forward a ‘whole-child approach’ to tackling exploitation and crime, informed by the best evidence. It also argues for a change in how we view children involved in the criminal justice system, as vulnerable young people are often the manipulated victims of exploitation, grooming, and harm.
The report comes ahead of the new Government’s plans for a new network of youth hubs – Young Futures – which bring together local services, and deliver extra support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or serious violence.
Today’s report makes a series of recommendations which align with the new Government’s Opportunity Mission for children and its Young Futures plans, including:
A holistic and coordinated “whole-system” approach with public services working together to identify and address the reasons why children offend or become victims of crime. Services should be better connected and embedded within local communities, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. Trauma-informed mental health services should be placed in community hubs, youth centres, and schools, and social workers, mental health professionals, and youth workers should work collaboratively to identify early signs of distress and to build a proactive support system for young people at risk. Teachers, school staff, and dedicated mental health teams should be supported to work collaboratively to identify early signs of harm, and to offer a support system for pupils who may otherwise fall through the cracks. Partnerships with local health services and community organisations should strengthen this approach by bringing a wider range of expertise together, creating a holistic, “whole-system” safety net. This should also go alongside a greater focus on tackling extra-familial risks.
Addressing children’s underlying vulnerabilities and disadvantages, rather than their behaviours, preventing them from becoming victims of crime and reducing offending and improving outcomes. A key factor in reducing involvement in the criminal justice system and improving outcomes is addressing children’s underlying vulnerabilities and disadvantages. As the evidence from county lines and child sexual abuse illustrates, there needs to be greater recognition of the overlap between victimisation and offending that supports children to develop positive relationships with trusted adults. Focusing on early interventions that build resilience and prevent escalation is essential. Given the strong association between being in care and criminal exploitation and criminalisation, there is a need also to focus on providing greater social work and welfare support for looked after children in care. Developing a more inclusive school system that supports vulnerable pupils, including training to help school staff to recognise SEND, neurodiversity, and signs of distress and trauma is crucial.
Diversion schemes for children, young people, their families, and communities to keep young people out of the criminal justice system. Community-based programmes which can provide safe and constructive outlets for children, steering them away from harmful environments and potential criminal involvement are urgently needed. Schools, as community anchors, should be supported to collaborate with local organisations capable of offering extracurricular programmes that build skills, self-worth, and community connection. These programmes need investment because they are more than just “after-school activities”— they are community wellbeing and crime prevention measures that build resilience, a sense of belonging, and self-worth.
The report also presents a range of existing innovative approaches to support vulnerable children who are involved with, or at risk of becoming involved with, the criminal justice system or serious violence. All of these approaches are responsive to local needs, and all are designed to inspire new thinking and practice to tackle the childhood vulnerability, crime, and justice crisis. Examples include:
Trauma-informed policing in Child Sexual Exploitation is a collaborative project initiated between the Centre for Child Protection (CCP) and Kent Police, led by the University of Kent, and supported by the Economic and Social Research Council. The result was an award-winning immersive simulation training tool to improve police officers’ responses to girls with lived experience of CSE. The simulation integrates a trauma-informed approach and was developed through a series of collaborative workshops between CCP and Kent Police, leading to the development of an innovative and immersive simulation-based training experience, ‘Robyn and Molly’. This is designed to equip professionals with the expertise needed to carry out trauma-informed CSE assessments and investigations, and to support victims during cases of CSE. Between July and October 2023, nine pilot training sessions were delivered to 77 detectives from Kent Police, leading to a 133% increase in the recording and consideration of trauma in police assessments involving females with experience of CSE cases.
Bradford SAFE Taskforce. In 2022, the DfE allocated £3.3 million to Bradford to unite local schools in reducing children’s vulnerability to serious violence. This funding led to the creation of the Bradford SAFE Taskforce, spearheaded by Exceed Academies Trust. Through this innovative initiative, a variety of carefully designed, evidence-based interventions were introduced across 18 schools in the city. The primary focus of these interventions is to improve children’s attendance, behaviour, and engagement with their education, including a gender-specific mentoring scheme, and attendance-focused interventions which directly supports children who have poor attendance to school and aims to re-engage them back into education. The project takes a whole-child approach, which includes support for the family alongside the child. Interventions include assisting with transport and liaising with both school and careers to bridge the gap between home and school.
Encouraging Potential Inspiring Change (EPIC) is Doncaster’s specialist targeted youth provision, which is helping to divert first time entrants into the criminal justice system. They focus on supporting children at risk of criminal exploitation and educational prevention interventions in schools utilising innovative approaches such as virtual reality. EPIC has set up a “pop-up youth zone” within Doncaster centre to respond to concerns about anti-social behaviour issues within the shopping centre. Over a seven-month period in 2023, 2,316 children accessed provision within the hub, which has led to a decrease in youth-related ASB and criminality within the shopping centre. EPIC’s “Team around the Street” is an outreach-based approach, where youth support workers work in the community with children through a range of positive activities. Staff spend time with children, building positive relationships and supporting them to engage in activities that interest them. Within schools, EPIC delivers assemblies to whole year groups around risks associated with being involved in ASB and crime, as well as information, education, and guidance around child criminal exploitation and where to go for help. EPIC also delivers alternative learning provision to prevent permanent exclusions for young people who had taken a bladed article into school.
Revolving Doors is an organisation which champions long-term solutions for justice reform that tackle the root causes of repeat, low-level crime, and support people’s journeys towards better lives. Through amplifying the voices of those who have experienced the criminal justice system, Revolving Doors works to prevent individuals from being criminalised due to unmet health and social needs, such as poverty, homelessness, mental ill health, problems with drugs and alcohol, or domestic abuse. Revolving Doors’ lived experience members have been at the forefront of innovative diversion schemes for young people around the UK, in the North of England and beyond. The scheme for children and young people was so successful, it was re-developed to accept referrals for anyone over 18 years. The service works closely with the police, helping train and upskill officers, and have established data collection processes to understand their impact.
Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:
“Our prisons are full, and our streets feel unsafe. Hardly a week passes without seeing the horrific consequences of failing to tackle serious violence and exploitation. Teenagers are losing their lives or their liberty, families are left devastated and communities left in shock.
“Frequently, there is a chilling sense of inevitability for many of the most vulnerable children, particularly those with unsupported Special Educational Needs and those in care or on the edge of it. They are at greater risk of being groomed into criminal or sexual exploitation or caught up in gangs and serious violence.
“Supporting these children and their families early, through schools, youth work, and mental health support, is crucial. We need a whole-child and whole-system approach to tackle childhood vulnerability, with children and families at the centre of coordinated services.
“The new Government is already making clear that its approach to tackling serious violence and exploitation will include intervention and diversion programmes to support vulnerable teenagers, including its forthcoming Young Futures pilots.
“This provides a vital opportunity to start to rebuild and refresh the community-based, targeted interventions that we know can divert young people away from harm, boosting life chances, and saving lives.
“The recommendations set out in this report should be at the heart of that programme.”
Professor Mark Mon Williams, Child of The North report series editor and ARC Yorkshire & Humber researcher, said:
“Preventing children from entering the criminal justice system is not just a moral imperative but essential for a prosperous country. We would empty our prisons if we invested in early interventions that address the root causes of vulnerability. The evidence shows we can break intergenerational cycles of disadvantage by prioritising education, mental health, and community support.
“Breaking the links between a disadvantaged childhood and the criminal justice system would create a brighter future for all children and the whole of our society.”
Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
“As a paediatrician, it is easy to feel hopeless when you look at the figures for the number of children entering the criminal justice system. It is heart sinking to know that we can often predict which children will end up getting into trouble and yet historically the system has felt paralysed to act early.
“This report gives me hope. We can break the seemingly endless cycle of intergenerational disadvantage. Here we have a set of recommendations using a holistic child centred approach, underpinned by the use of data, that can reset the trajectory to one that is brighter and more optimistic.”
Co-author of the report, Professor Kate Brown, Co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre, said:
“The evidence is definitive – we urgently need stronger social and community support for the most vulnerable children and young people. Failure to act will mean we keep on punishing the most vulnerable in the criminal justice system and leaving them exposed to crime.
“If we are serious about preventing crime, it’s investment in children’s life opportunities, care and education that matters most.”
Co-author of the report, Professor Adam Crawford, Co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre, said:
“There is both an urgent need and ripe opportunity to shift the dial on how we advance a ‘whole system’ approach to childhood vulnerability, crime and justice that places children’s needs at the heart of service provision.
“Reducing exposure to harm up-stream and minimising young people’s engagement with criminal justice through diversion are key to preventing children becoming victims of crime, reducing offending and improving outcomes, not only in childhood but across the life-course.”
