St Giles warmly welcomes the proposals outlined in today’s Youth Justice White Paper, particularly its stronger emphasis on prevention and early intervention as the foundation of an effective youth justice system.
Our decades of experience supporting people impacted by the justice system show that offending is rarely the root problem. More often, it is a symptom of deeper challenges such as poverty, exploitation, substance misuse, trauma and unmet mental health needs. Addressing these underlying issues is essential if we are serious about breaking destructive cycles of offending, custody and reoffending.
We know early intervention works. St Giles’ trusted adult mentoring programmes in schools support young people at risk of violence and criminal exploitation before they reach crisis point. Evidence from the Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit shows that mentoring programmes like these can reduce violence by 21%, cut overall offending by 14%, and lower reoffending rates by 19%.
This early intervention and preventative approach aligns to the National Youth Strategy which commits to giving 500,000 more young people access to a trusted adult outside their home by 2035.
We are particularly encouraged by the White Paper’s commitment to multi-agency approaches, including the proposed Youth Intervention Courts. Young people facing complex challenges need coordinated, holistic support, and no single organisation can deliver this alone. Bringing together services with different expertise has the potential to create more effective and lasting outcomes. We hope the voluntary sector will play a central role in delivering the full range of interventions needed to support vulnerable young people.
Too many young people in the justice system are themselves victims of crime, exploitation and abuse. We therefore strongly welcome the greater focus on community-based responses rather than costly and often ineffective custodial sentences. Custody can severely damage a young person’s future by disrupting education, family relationships, community ties and access to support services. Reserving custody for only the most serious cases is an important and positive step forward.