Catch22 discusses how young adult hubs can deliver better outcomes for young adults in the criminal justice system and why this approach should become standard practice.

Catch22 specialise in delivering services which build resilience and aspiration in individuals and communities across the UK. Our justice services provide young people and adults with interventions, rehabilitative support and victim services in prisons and in the community – all with the overarching aim of supporting positive transitions through and away from the criminal justice system (CJS).

A relational approach

Over 100 years of service delivery has taught us that the best way of securing positive outcomes for people in the CJS is by building strong relationships which focus on the bespoke needs of the individual. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to rehabilitation. This is especially true for young adults in the CJS, who we know are overrepresented in the system.

At this key age, young adults are experiencing so many profound transitions, positioning them at a pivotal moment in deciding their future. Such a relational approach is fundamental to redirecting their life-path away from one of crime. Indeed, we know that loss of positive relationships is a key driver of crime in the first place, and positive relationships with practitioners can protect against violence.

Newham Youth 2 Adulthood (Y2A) Transition Hub

Since April 2024, Catch22 have been part of a multidisciplinary team, commissioned by the MoJ and MOPAC and co-located with Probation, to deliver a holistic mentoring service in Newham, called the Newham Youth 2 Adulthood (Y2A) Transition Hub. Our work supports young adults aged 18-25 on probation in Newham, and 17-year-olds who are transitioning from the youth justice system to adult probation.

Our caseworkers focus on building trusting relationships with the young people referred into the service through a developmentally appropriate and maturity informed approach. In other words, this means assessing young adult social, emotional and intellectual development and tailoring engagement to meet their needs, as opposed to basing assessment solely on their biological age.

Why are we passionate about this approach?

The 17-25 year old cohort in the CJS is unique and presents very specific needs. Many of the young people on Probation have experienced significant trauma, have mistrust of the system or are vulnerable in one way or another.

It’s clear that there’s not enough being done to provide young adults with the required level of support, opportunities and aspirations for them to make long-term positive changes. In fact, we see many thousands of young people enter the justice system and never leave – going on to lead a “revolving door” life in and out of the CJS throughout their adulthood.

Whilst it is recognised by the CJS that a maturity informed approach is required, the system is yet to fully embed a tailored, end-to-end approach which responds to the bespoke needs of young adults, acknowledging brain development, maturity and focusing on enabling positive change and progression.

This is exactly what the Newham Y2A Hub seeks to address. The Y2A hub takes a multi-agency, place-based approach to supporting the young adult cohort. By creating a safe, age appropriate, supportive environment, as well as access to additional support services (such as accommodation, therapy and emotional wellbeing) all under one roof, the Y2A Transition Hub enables young adults to build positive working relationships with professionals and reignite trust in the system. Most importantly, it gives them the tools and motivation to lead a positive, pro-social life as they enter adulthood.

Future Focus

Early evidence suggests that the multi-agency, relational approach adopted within the Newham Y2A Hub is effective in supporting positive transitions and creating hope for a brighter future amongst young adults in the CJS. Looking forward, we want to see this approach embedded as standard practice across the sector. Investment in the implementation of similar relational-based support services will have long-term impacts across the CJS, not least in reducing recidivism.

Greater Consideration of Maturity: A New Vision for Young Adult Sentencing

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HMPPS Young Adult Awareness Week took place 7-13 February 2022. In this blog, which is cross-posted from Insights website, Clare Wilson and Jemma Waterworth explain the work that has been progressed to improve how young adults transition between youth and adult custody, and between youth offending and adult probation services. 

The transition from the youth to adult justice system is a challenging time for young adults. By blowing out the candles on the birthday cake at 18, individuals are suddenly perceived and treated as adults, with the child-friendly ethos and services available to them as adolescents, often abruptly coming to an end.

Community Transition

The unification of Probation Services created an opportunity to improve young adults’ experience of the transition between Youth Offending Services (YOS) and adult probation services.  In response, the Probation Reform Programme has been exploring how we can better address the particular needs of those who move between the two services.

In September 2021, London Probation region won The Butler Trust’s Kathy Biggar trophy for its locally developed ‘Transition Programme’ as an example of excellent local innovation.  With the support of the Probation Reform Programme, it has now been developed for national roll out, and is being treated to a design refresh to align it with other resources that support Probation Practitioners in their work.

The programme will be renamed ‘Next Steps’ and will be used by secondees in the YOS and receiving probation practitioners to ensure that young adults understand and engage with transition, alongside the support of families, carers and other key professionals. Delivered through a series of modules, it demystifies probation supervision for the young adult and ensures that timely information is exchanged between the two services so that the sentence plan is delivered uninterrupted.  It encourages practitioners to move away from treating transition as a purely procedural task and provides practical exercises that support relationship-building and engagement.

Custody

The transition of a young person from the Youth Custody Service (YCS) into the adult prison estate can be a critical period in the young person’s journey through custody. It is imperative that this is carefully planned, is focused on the young person, meets their needs and takes place in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary way with the young person at the centre of it.

Through enhanced partnership work, a centrally managed model has been developed to improve the process for placing children into the adult estate with a person-centred and consistently applied approach, to ensure that the specific needs of the individuals are met.

The new process will improve the sharing of information between the youth and adult estate to ensure more streamlined and comprehensive sentence and care planning, thereby providing a more smooth transition.

It aims to improve the experience of all young people who will be in custody beyond the age of 18 and create a consistent and transparent process that will meet the specific needs required for each individual. The new process will include the views of the child and their family/support person in decisions that are made about their future and increase awareness for staff involved in all stages of transition, of the specific needs of this age group.

The transitions guidance along with the National Probation Service Management of Young Adults Policy Framework will be available from 7 February 2022.