Restorative Justice for young adults in prison and on probation
This is a blog by our Communications and Events Coordinator, Keeva Baxter.
We all want young people to be able to lead productive, safe and healthy lives and we know it is important that they can access the resources they need throughout their journey to adulthood. We want to ensure that young people reach their full potential and it is important to ensure that they feel supported to do so.
Having said this, many young people in contact with the Criminal Justice System can become trapped in a spiral of crime, unable to see a way out.
Speaking to the person that they have harmed can be transformative for young people, allowing them to see the real-life impact that their actions had and explore ways to change their behaviour and move forward. They can do this through Restorative Justice.
Why me? have completed a three-year project on ‘Improving restorative practice for young people’, which aimed to ensure that children and young people can access this valuable resource which can help them escape the spiral of crime and make positive changes to their lives. Interviews we conducted with young people in two Youth Offending Institutions revealed a strong interest in hearing more about Restorative Justice, as well as a need to build trust and understand the context before they participated. This was especially true for young, Black men who expressed a desire to hear about Restorative Justice from someone like them who had participated.
The work across this project was split into two phases, the first explored good practice in Youth Justice Services and we worked with individual teams to improve and embed Restorative Justice. The second phase looked at how the lessons from phase one could be applied to young adults in prison or on probation.
As part of this second phase we have produced a short report aimed at policy-makers and HMPPS. The report contains some key policy recommendations for improving access to Restorative Justice for young adults in the Criminal Justice System. This includes recommendations to run two pilots in Youth Offending Institutions, a national Restorative Justice action plan, revising policy frameworks to account for race and gender, and improving implementation of Restorative Justice in the new two tier Out of Court Disposal framework.
Why me? is a member of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, run by Barrow Cadbury. The T2A project aims to make the case for “a distinct approach to policy and practice” for young adults in the Criminal Justice System. This is because young people continue to develop and mature into their mid-twenties, rather than becoming mature adults as soon as they turn eighteen. T2A promotes creative approaches to policy and practice when working with young adults, distinguishing them from other age groups.
Laurie Hunte, T2A (Transition to Adulthood) Campaign Manager, says:
The report is an exciting new development in our research into working restoratively with young people, and we hope that it provides some inspiration for policy makers and probation staff. Please do share the report with your networks and help us to support more young people who are in contact with the Criminal Justice System to lead happy and productive lives.
This project has been generously funded by The Barrow Cadbury Trust, The Charles Hayward Foundation and CHK Charities.