Our Response to the Government's Youth Justice White Paper
The Government’s Youth Justice White Paper’s clear acknowledgement that unnecessary criminalisation of children isn’t effective is a welcome step.
This reflects an important shift in recognising that behaviour is often shaped by harm and that responses need to go beyond punishment if they’re to reduce risk in the long term.
This is particularly important in the context of a changing landscape, where young people are experiencing harm in different and increasingly complex ways. The influence of social media, online grooming, peer dynamics, and the ongoing impact of poverty and instability means that risk is often less visible, more relational, and harder to respond to through traditional systems.
The White Paper recognises that systems haven’t kept pace with these changes, and we welcome its focus on earlier intervention, reducing unnecessary criminalisation, and strengthening responses to exploitation. Commitments to improve diversion, address disparities, reduce remand and move towards more rehabilitative approaches are all positive steps in the right direction.
However, our experience shows that the issue isn’t just whether there is a response, but how that response works over time. Many children experience repeated policing and justice interventions that do not address the underlying drivers of harm. By the time young people come into contact with services, risk is often already well established, after navigating overlapping harms and pressures over time, often without consistent support. This can leave them caught in cycles of system contact, without the sustained support needed to change their situation.
This gap in consistent, joined‑up support is also reflected in the experiences of families. Parents and carers are often a key source of protection, but many are navigating the same pressures identified in the White Paper, including instability, poverty and trauma. They’re often responding to complex forms of harm, including exploitation, and are then left holding that risk with little to no support. While the White Paper sets out increased expectations and accountability for parents, this needs to sit alongside targeted, sustained support for families, recognising the impact of intergenerational harm and the realities they are managing.
We also continue to see significant inequality in how children are treated. Black children are more likely to experience escalated responses and to be seen through a lens of risk rather than vulnerability. In a context where harm is already shaped by inequality, this can deepen rather than reduce that risk.
Progress isn’t linear - young people will move forward, then hit difficult points, then move forward again. Engagement can dip at times, but that’s part of the process - not a failure. Support needs to stay consistent through that, rather than relying on steady progress to continue. This reflects the reality that harm builds over time and needs ongoing, adaptable and flexible support to reduce it.
The White Paper sets a positive direction, particularly in recognising the limits of criminalisation and the need to intervene earlier. The challenge now is making sure that responses match the reality of young people’s lives. Without sustained, joined‑up support that reflects how harm and exploitation are experienced today, there is a risk that children will continue to move through cycles of harm and system contact rather than being supported to move forward.