Five sentencing principles for young adults have been launched today by the Howard League for Penal Reform.  The proposed sentencing principles for young adults, typically aged 18 to 25, have been devised in line with developments in case law, science and social studies. If applied, they would assist the courts and improve sentencing outcomes.

The Howard League brought together an advisory group of experts to help draft the principles, drawing on the charity’s legal and participation work and the growing knowledge base about the needs and characteristics of young people.

The five sentencing principles are:

1. Young adults, typically aged 18 to 25, should be treated as a distinct category for the purposes of sentencing.
2. Custody should be a last resort for young adults.
3. Where a custodial sentence is imposed, the term should take into account the impact of prolonged custody on the young adult’s well-being and life chances.
4. The period of any custodial term should be less than that imposed on an older adult.
5. When considering mitigating factors, attention should be paid to how they particularly affect young adults.

More than 140,000 young adults aged 18 to 24 were sentenced to a community penalty or imprisonment in criminal courts in 2017. Imprisonment of young adults can have tragic consequences – between 2006 and 2016, 164 young adults aged 18 to 24 died in custody, of whom 136 lost their lives through suicide.

There is now a consensus that young adults aged 18 to 25 should be treated as a distinct group from older adults, largely because they are still maturing. Particularly compelling is the neurological and psychological evidence that development of the frontal lobes – the area of the brain that helps to regulate decision-making and the control of impulses that underpin criminal behaviour – does not cease until the age of about 25.  In terms of brain physiology, susceptibility to peer pressure appears to continue until at least the mid-twenties, and the brain continues to mature in this period. Such evidence has led to calls from senior paediatricians to redefine ‘adolescence’ as the period between ages 10 and 24, and to reframe laws, social policies and service systems accordingly.

There is also evidence that one of the prevailing characteristics of this age range is the differing rates of development within the group – maturation occurs at different rates between individuals. Determining factors are not well understood, but there is growing recognition that social contexts have a strong influence, including those likely to also be influencing offending behaviour.

According to the Howard League, in spite of overwhelming evidence that young adults should be treated as a distinct group from older adults, the sentencing process, as it stands, does not sufficiently factor in the lessons from neuroscience, psychology and criminology.  The Howard League asserts that if applied, the sentencing principles would enable judges and magistrates to make better-informed decisions, and prevent more young people from being involved in the criminal justice system.

Read ‘Sentencing Principles for Young Adults‘

Formal sentencing principles for young adults aged 18 to 25, similar to the Sentencing Council guidelines that are in place for children, would assist the courts and improve sentencing outcomes, a new report recommends.

Sentencing Young Adults: Making the case for sentencing principles for young adults presents research by the Howard League for Penal Reform, a founding member of the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance.

The report, which draws on Howard League participation work with young adults, sets out how principled guidelines would help judges and magistrates to understand young adults better, and provide a legal framework to achieve better sentencing decisions.  It recommends that the principles should consider the relationship between immaturity and blameworthiness, capacity to change, and the impact of race and histories of care.

It considers how the welfare principle – the principle that, when a court is dealing with proceedings relating to a child, its primary consideration shall lie with the welfare of the child – might be extended to apply to young adults, in recognition that full maturity and all the attributes of adulthood are not magically conferred on young people on their eighteenth birthdays.

The Howard League has brought together an advisory group of experts to help draft sentencing principles for young adults, drawing on the charity’s legal and participation work and the growing knowledge base about the needs and characteristics of young people.

More than 140,000 young adults aged 18 to 24 were sentenced in criminal courts last year.

Imprisonment of young adults can have tragic consequences. Between 2006 and 2016, 164 young adults aged 18 to 24 died in custody, 136 of whom lost their lives through suicide.

Nacro has called for an end to Friday prison releases because of the time constraints they place on prisoners. Being released on Friday leaves prisoners minimal time to access vital housing, employment and benefits services before they close for the weekend. This can result in people not being able to collect medication, having to sleep rough and survive on a £46 discharge grant until services reopen on Monday.

Currently one third of prison releases take place on Friday, Nacro Chief Executive Jacob Tas has called for a a change in the current system stating:

“Ending Friday releases would go a long way towards helping people leave prison with the time to access the services they need. We believe there are immediate simple and cost-effective steps that can be taken by the government and prison governors to ensure Friday releases are avoided.”

The Briefing is the first in a series from Nacro looking at practical challenges to effective resettlement for people leaving prison and put forward cost effective solutions.

Read the full briefing here

Young adults, defined as individuals aged 18 to 25, represent around 10 per cent of the UK population but account for a third of those sentenced to prison and 30-40 per cent of cases involving police time each year. There is a growing body of research which shows that many young adults have not yet reached the full maturity of adults, which can lead them to engage in risky behaviour. This has led many to argue, along with T2A and its initiative,  for a distinct approach to this age group that is carried across all agencies of the criminal justice system.

The Police Foundation‘s new report, launched today, illustrates the current approach in policing and argues that there is a case for taking a tailored approach to the 18 to 25 age group.

The report sets out what such an approach might look like and proposes to test these ideas in police forces in England and Wales.

Read the report 

Eighteen months after the publication of the Government’s response to the Justice Committee’s landmark report on young adults, the Committee has found that the approach taken by ministers has been too narrow and that the government should commit “to more fundamental reform”.

In a report published yesterday which assesses progress made by the government in implementing its commitments to young adults, the Committee Chair Bob Neill concludes that “the current approach taken by ministers is not yet working and we are not convinced that it will”. He calls on the government to develop a “clear and effective strategy” which recognises young adults’ strengths and supports them effectively.

Commenting, Joyce Moseley OBE, Chair of the T2A Alliance said: “18-25-year-olds in the criminal justice system have a hugely untapped capacity to address their behavior and permanently “grow out of crime”. Following the Justice Committee’s landmark “blueprint” for a strategic approach to the treatment of young adults in the criminal justice system, we share the Committee’s frustration at the government’s failure to acknowledge the strength of evidence for more significant change. This is despite the limited progress that has been made in some areas to take better account of maturity. We hope this report will act as a spur to develop a robust and bold agenda dedicated to enabling young adults who commit crime to turn their lives around.”

The last Committee published a report on its inquiry on the treatment of young adults aged 18 to 25 in the criminal justice system in October 2016. T2A provided both oral and written evidence to the inquiry which reviewed the extensive body of evidence from disciplines including neuroscience, criminology and psychology for a distinct approach for young adults.

The 2016 report concluded that “there is overwhelming evidence that the criminal justice system does not adequately address the distinct needs of young adults” and sets out a bold “blueprint” for a strategic approach to the treatment of young adults in the criminal justice system. At the time, T2A welcomed the Committee’s “landmark and visionary report” and called for it to be implemented “in full and without delay”.

The then Government’s response, published in January 2017, accepted that young adults “must remain a priority group for criminal justice agencies” and committed to further developing operational practice based on maturity. However, it did not accept the Committee’s central recommendation for the Ministry of Justice to produce a specific young adult strategy.

The Committee took evidence from the Ministry about its preferred approach and the progress it had made in implementing the recommendations it did accept. In the report published yesterday, MPs concluded that the Ministry of Justice has adopted its current approach to reform due to cuts to its wider budget and the need for practicality. The report makes recommendations for ensuring that a more distinct approach is taken to young adults, on the basis of stronger evidence than the Ministry has gathered, particularly about how young adults are treated in prison. It says that the Government must commit to more fundamental reform in its Justice 2030 project.

A new report, published today by the Centre for Justice Innovation and T2A, suggests that a fairer and more distinct approach to how courts deal with young adults could reduce reoffending, meaning fewer victims of crime.

The report  ‘A fairer way: procedural fairness for young adults at court’ sets out a blueprint for a new approach to 18-25 year olds in court, developed over the last two years by criminal justice practitioners, as well as young adults themselves, in five areas of England and Wales. These areas have worked with the Centre for Justice Innovation to develop a model that could be delivered within current law and at no extra cost to the public.

This new approach has the support of the Police and Crime Commissioners of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, the West Midlands, and South Wales, who, in a joint letter to Justice Secretary David Gauke MP today, state “This innovative multi-agency approach has the potential to benefit not only the young adults but the criminal justice system as a whole. The chance for change is likely to be higher for these young people before their pattern of offending becomes more entrenched. There is a high degree of local enthusiasm in each of our areas for the pilots and much thought has been put into how the pilots could work in practice.”

The Ministry of Justice and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, along with the judiciary, have recently announced they are exploring the potential for a young adult appropriate court in London.

The adapted court model draws upon scientific international research that has shown young adults’ brain development and maturity makes them a group distinct from both children and from fully mature adults. It recommends ways to make court processes more understandable and more transparent for young adult defendants. The proposed changes are based on ‘procedural fairness’ evidence that suggests a more understandable and fairer court process is likely to increase young adults’ compliance with court orders and reduce young adults’ likelihood of committing further offences.

These proposed changes have the support of the influential House of Commons Justice Select Committee, which in their 2017 report on young adults in the criminal justice system said, “there is a strong case for a distinct approach to the treatment of young adults in the criminal justice system… The potential of young adult courts are worth testing.” Moreover, the recent report by David Lammy MP on trust of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic defendants in the criminal justice system stressed that “To build trust, the challenge is to demystify decision making processes and bring them out into the open, so they can be better understood.”

Phil Bowen, the Centre’s Director said; “The evidence behind procedural fairness is simple — people are more likely to obey a court’s decision when the court process is made more understandable and more transparent. The model outlined in this report offers a clear way forward to making this happen in practice.”

Today, a Memorandum of Understanding between the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the Secretary of State for Justice, David Gauke, was published. The MoU, ‘Working Towards Justice Devolution to London’, sets out a bold plan to implement a distinct criminal justice approach to young adults aged 18-25 across the capital.

It includes a commitment between “MOPAC, MoJ and London Councils to explore with the judiciary the scope for developing a new young adult (18-25) appropriate court within London (within existing legislation).”

In the section on page 18 entitled ‘Young offenders and the transition to the adult offender management system’, it states:

“Our ambition is to reduce the numbers of young Londoners from being incarcerated in institutions deemed to be unsafe and/or being locked up far away from their families and communities, which hampers resettlement and continuity of services. We also wish to us devolution as a tool to develop new initiatives to improve outcomes for London’s young offenders and young adults transitioning from the youth justice service to the adult criminal justice service, including exploring the commissioning of a new secure institution for London’s young offenders.”

The ‘Key commitments’ set out in this section include two significant announcements, which would deliver key T2A policy:

• MOPAC, MoJ and the YJB to work together to review how the criminal justice system manages the transition of young adults from the youth justice system into the adult justice system in London and how this could be improved. This should include exploring the possibility for:
o Testing a new approach to assessing maturity and extending youth justice approaches where there are low levels of maturity.
o Co designing a pilot to test the integration of resources to better support young adults during the transition between youth offending teams and probation services

• MOPAC, MoJ and London Councils to explore with the judiciary the scope for developing a new young adult (18-25) appropriate court within London (within existing legislation).

The MoU also commits to exploring financial devolution that “will include a particular focus on female offenders and 18-25 year old offenders.”

A letter sent by Justice Minister Dr Philip Lee MP to the chair of the Justice Select Committee, Bob Neill MP, was published on 14 March 2018. The letter updates last year’s government response to the Justice Committee’s Inquiry on young adult offenders.

It provides a very encouraging summary of current policy and delivery regarding young adults in the criminal justice system. It is the most comprehensive response to date from the government on this issue, and it is heartening that T2A is mentioned in several places. Below are some key highlights from the text:

“We accept the Justice Select Committee’s specific recommendations in relation to and acknowledging 18-25 year olds in the criminal justice system as a distinct group.

We accept that young men continue to mature into their mid-twenties, and this is informing practice in the following ways:

• A resource pack to promote maturity (with individuals): We are currently piloting a “resource pack” to support staff to identify and work with 18-25 year olds; the group identified as specifically needing to develop maturity by the JSC. The pilots are in four establishments for six months and we would look to make the resource pack available more widely to both custody and community sites. We know that the development of maturity is fluid and that older and younger men and women could benefit from the selected exercises and will therefore be aiming to extend the target group post pilot. This development has been presented to members of Transition to Adulthood Alliance.
• Assessments and screening for maturity (in groups of offenders): We have now published analysis of the maturity screening tool and the testing of its reliability and validity. We are incorporating this into our “Segmentation Tool”, to help prison and probation providers profile their populations. Better screening will help providers determine how many young adults under their care are likely to require services or interventions to promote maturation.
• Acquired brain injury: We are improving identification and support of brain injury through grant funding to the Disabilities Trust. This will pay for a pilot in four English prisons, a Welsh prison and a Welsh Approved Premises. It will develop and test how we understand and meet the needs of those with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This work includes staff awareness training in relation to brain injuries and training in the administration of a screening measure.
• Prosecution: Training in maturity is currently being delivered to CPS specialist youth prosecutors across England and Wales and all prosecutors were reminded in September that when weighing up whether a prosecution should be brought, age and maturity should be considered. Training for prosecutors includes a section on the importance of considering the ‘maturity’ of young adults (18-24 year olds), as part of the prosecutors’ review and decision-making process. More specifically, the face-to-face training allows prosecutors to consider and discuss the implications of maturity, including where it may be a relevant matter for cases involving young adults (18-24 year olds).
• Sentencing: ‘Age and/or lack of maturity’ is considered a mitigating factor when passing sentence on a number of offences. Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) are prepared by the Probation Service to help the court determine the most suitable sentence for the offender. PSRs for offenders 18 to 25 must now include a consideration of the offender’s maturity to inform sentencing decisions.
• A new National Young Offender Governance Board: Involves representatives of the NPS divisions in England and Wales and members of the Youth Justice Board. It is chaired by an National Probation Service divisional director. The board oversees seven strands of work in its delivery plan, including transitions (between youth and adult systems), courts and maturity assessments.
• Young adult courts: We maintain an interest in finding approaches in adult courts that are appropriate to young adults and have looked at the useful externally-funded (Barrow Cadbury Trust) feasibility studies in this space. Though these feasibility exercises have not gone onto being tested in practice, we have learned a great deal and may find opportunities to use this learning in the future.
• Young adults in prison: From April 2018, we will begin an exercise to look at how dual designated establishments are operating and identifying any good practice. This will be helped by the secondment of a specialist in young adults from a voluntary sector mental health charity (which is also a member of the Transition to Adulthood alliance).”

In addition, some further highlights from recent weeks:

• The National Police Chiefs’ Council is redefining ‘young people’ as up to age 25, and has produced a new strategy on policing 18-25 year olds;
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons has announced it will now inspect prisons’ management of young adults (defined for the first time as 18-25, rather than 18-20);
• Two thirds of Police and Crime Commissioners (30/42) have named young adults aged 18-25 as a priority group in their Police and Crime Plans, and several have developed specific young adult strategies;
• The majority of Community Rehabilitation Companies (private probation services) have developed strategies for managing 18-25 year olds as a distinct group. Most recently Interserve (which operates across 7 English regions), which is rolling out the T2A training pack ‘Taking account of maturity: A practice guide for probation professionals’.

Today, Revolving Doors Agency and Transition to Adulthood Alliance publish a new report, Spotlight on Young Adults. The report showcases some of the innovative work being undertaken by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across the country to improve criminal justice responses for young adults (18-25), the most likely age group to come into contact with the police both as victims and as offenders.

David Lammy (Chair of The Lammy Review) has called for maturity to factor into the criminal justice decision making process. Pushing this further, The Justice Select Committee has called to extend statutory support provided to under 18’s, as they navigate the criminal justice system, to the 18-25 cohort. The Committee also pressed for legislative changes to recognise the developmental status of the 18-25 age group.

PCCs are in an important position to show leadership on this issue, cutting across the youth and adults systems with a key strategic and commissioning role. This report shines a light on a number of case studies that highlight how PCCs have delivered a distinct approach to the 18-25 cohort, including:

• Diversion from the Criminal Justice System: e.g. exploring opportunities to tailor out of court disposals more effectively for first time offences and ensuring mental health liaison and diversion services respond to the specific needs of this age group.

• Targeted support throughout the transition to adulthood: e.g. Leicestershire introducing a dedicated young adults project; and Gloucestershire and South Yorkshire commissioning young-adult specific support services.

• Extending existing youth services: including exploring how the principles of the youth offending team model can be applied to young adults, and developing opportunities to link young adults back into these teams, as piloted in South Wales.

• Engaging with young adults to harness the power of lived experience, in developing their strategies, many of these PCCs have sought to engage with young adults, including those with experience of offending. An approach demonstrated by Leicestershire’s Young Adults Project (YAP!) Shadow Board.

Debbie Pippard, Vice-Chair of the T2A Alliance said:

“T2A is pleased to see how PCCs are leading the way in delivering a strategic approach to young adults involved in the criminal justice system. Tailoring interventions to meet the distinct needs of 18-25 year olds is an effective way to allocate resources, reduce offending, and help young people grow out of crime”.

Article cross-posted via Katie Silver, Health reporter, BBC News

Adolescence now lasts from the ages of 10 to 24, although it used to be thought to end at 19, scientists say.

Young people continuing their education for longer, as well as delayed marriage and parenthood, has pushed back popular perceptions of when adulthood begins.

Changing the definition is vital to ensure laws stay appropriate, they write in an opinion piece in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

But another expert warns doing so risks “further infantilising young people”.

When puberty begins

Puberty is considered to start when the part of the brain known as the hypothalamus starts releasing a hormone that activates the body’s pituitary and gonadal glands.

This used to happen around the age of 14 but has dropped with improved health and nutrition in much of the developed world to around the age of 10.

As a consequence, in industrialised countries such as the UK the average age for a girl’s first menstruation has dropped by four years in the past 150 years.

Half of all females now have their period by 12 or 13 years of age.

When the body stops developing

There are also biological arguments for why the definition of adolescence should be extended, including that the body continues to develop.

For example, the brain continues to mature beyond the age of 20, working faster and more efficiently.

And many people’s wisdom teeth don’t come through until the age of 25.

Delaying life’s milestones

Young people are also getting married and having children later.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average age for a man to enter their first marriage in 2013 was 32.5 years and 30.6 years for women across England and Wales. This represented an increase of almost eight years since 1973.

Lead author Prof Susan Sawyer, director of the centre for adolescent health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, writes: “Although many adult legal privileges start at age 18 years, the adoption of adult roles and responsibilities generally occurs later.”

She says delayed partnering, parenting and economic independence means the “semi-dependency” that characterises adolescence has expanded.

Social policy

This social change, she says, needs to inform policy, such as by extending youth support services until the age of 25.

“Age definitions are always arbitrary”, she writes, but “our current definition of adolescence is overly restricted”.

“The ages of 10-24 years are a better fit with the development of adolescents nowadays.”

Prof Russell Viner, president-elect of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, said: “In the UK, the average age for leaving home is now around 25 years for both men and women.”

He supports extending the definition to cover adolescence up until the age of 24 and says a number of UK services already take this into account.

He said: “Statutory provision in England in terms of social care for care leavers and children with special educational needs now goes up to 24 years,” as does provision of services for people with cystic fibrosis.