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The No.1 Imperative to the Successful Resettlement of Young Custody Leavers?

Answer: First recognise the scale and nature of the problem!

The YJB research publication, 'Barriers to engagement in education, training and employment' (2006) highlights the key strategic barrier to young people engaging in ETE as being a failure to recognise the scale and nature of the problem. The principle can of course be applied generically across the disciplines, and our section on The Hard Facts, drawing together statistics from key areas of practice - Social Care, Health, Education and Criminal Justice - highlights the potential complexities of providing timely joined up multi-agency interventions for young custody leavers resettling back to the community.

Unfortunately, the research report on educational barriers didn't just stop there in its criticisms. It went on to highlight other generic barriers such as:

• Professional lack of knowledge about the youth justice system 

• Conflicting objectives and targets between agencies

• Confused responsibilities between agencies

• Ineffective and non-existent protocols

• Limited and tardy transmission of key information (YJB 2006)

Recommendations within the report included developing strategies to support young people in the transition from custody to the community, and also adopting a holistic approach which addresses both welfare issues alongside ETE.

Not surprisingly, the Ofsted report 'Transitions through detention and custody' published on the 27th May 2010 recommends there is a need to develop a national statutory plan, to be completed for each child and young person as they move through the criminal justice system, that is recognised by all stakeholders in order to ensure integration between services. We agree with this approach, and call upon others to join with us in influencing resettlement change in this direction. 

Professionalising the Resettlement of Young Custody Leavers

The specific resettlement needs of young custody leavers are surprisingly similar to the needs of care leavers. Building on resettlement programme and research work that has been undertaken in recent years, Resettlement UK offers practical assistance to local authorities keen to develop specialist local resettlement support services for 16-18 year olds, by providing support and guidance in key areas in order to professionalise  the resettlement of young custody leavers throughout the UK. We aim to bridge the gap between policy and practice, between support workers and young custody leavers, increasing the likely-hood of improved long-term post-custodial outcomes for young people.