New report warns thousands of vulnerable children at risk of criminal exploitation
A new report from the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre outlines an evidence-based plan to divert vulnerable youth from criminal exploitation and harm.
Published as part of the Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank report series, “An evidence-based plan for addressing childhood vulnerability, crime and justice” argues for addressing children’s underlying vulnerabilities and disadvantages, rather than their behaviours. It notes that this is key to preventing children becoming victims of crime and reducing offending.
The report recommends prevention and upstream health, social, and educational programmes for children, young people, their families, and communities to keep young people out of the criminal justice system through diversion schemes. It also argues that putting the interests and life chances of children at the heart of coordinated “whole system” policy making and delivery is crucial to the UK’s future success.
The report shows how every year, thousands of children become involved in the criminal justice system or become victims of serious violence or crime. While fewer young people are going into secure custody, most children involved in the criminal justice system share similar experiences of childhood adversity, including poverty, unmet Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), exclusion from school, abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence, addiction, or mental ill-health at home. The report shows how:
- 8 in 10 young people in the youth justice system were identified as having SEND
- 85% of boys in Young Offender Institutions have previously been excluded from school
- While 94% of looked after children in England and Wales do not get into trouble with the law, approximately half of the children in custody have been in care at some point.
The report also shows how the likelihood of young people being drawn into the criminal justice system is strongly influenced by where they live, their race, ethnic and cultural heritage, experiences of care, and levels of deprivation.
It follows a study published by Ofsted and other agencies earlier in November revealing that children as young as 11 years old were found to be carrying knives for protection, and highlighting the links between the increase in violence and exploitation of children in “county lines” run by criminal gangs.
Recent analysis by the Centre for Young Lives has also revealed how cases of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) have increased sharply over the last two years, with children identified by social services almost 40,000 times over the last year as victims of criminal or sexual exploitation, or being involved in gangs. Yet, as research published last week by the Youth Endowment Fund shows, just 12% of children involved in serious violence receive support to prevent future harm.
Today’s report makes a series of recommendations which align with the new Government’s Opportunity Mission for children and its Young Futures plans, including:
A holistic and coordinated “whole-system” approach with public services working together to identify and address the reasons why children offend or become victims of crime.
Services should be better connected and embedded within local communities, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. Trauma-informed mental health services should be placed in community hubs, youth centres and schools, and social workers, mental health professionals, and youth workers should work collaboratively to identify early signs of distress and to build a proactive support system for young people at risk. Teachers, school staff, and dedicated mental health teams should be supported to work collaboratively to identify early signs of harm, and to offer a support system for pupils who may otherwise fall through the cracks. Partnerships with local health services and community organisations should strengthen this approach by bringing a wider range of expertise together, creating a holistic, “whole-system” safety net. This should also go alongside a greater focus on tackling extra-familial risks.
Addressing children’s underlying vulnerabilities and disadvantages, rather than their behaviours, preventing them from becoming victims of crime and reducing offending and improving outcomes.
A key factor in reducing involvement in the criminal justice system and improving outcomes is addressing children’s underlying vulnerabilities and disadvantages. As the evidence from county lines and child sexual abuse illustrates, there needs to be greater recognition of the overlap between victimisation and offending that supports children to develop positive relationships with trusted adults. Focusing on early interventions that build resilience and prevent escalation is essential. Given the strong association between being in care and criminal exploitation and criminalisation, there is a need also to focus on providing greater social work and welfare support for looked after children in care. Developing a more inclusive school system that supports vulnerable pupils, including training to help school staff to recognise SEND, neurodiversity, and signs of distress and trauma is crucial.
Diversion schemes for children, young people, their families, and communities to keep young people out of the criminal justice system.
Community-based programmes which can provide safe and constructive outlets for children, steering them away from harmful environments and potential criminal involvement are urgently needed. Schools, as community anchors, should be supported to collaborate with local organisations capable of offering extracurricular programmes that build skills, self-worth, and community connection. These programmes need investment because they are more than just “after-school activities” – they are community wellbeing and crime prevention measures that build resilience, a sense of belonging, and self-worth.
The report also presents a range of existing innovative approaches to support vulnerable children who are involved with, or at risk of becoming involved with, the criminal justice system or serious violence. All of these approaches are responsive to local needs, and all are designed to inspire new thinking and practice to tackle the childhood vulnerability, crime, and justice crisis.
Co-author of the report, Professor Kate Brown, Co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre, said:
“The evidence is definitive – we urgently need stronger social and community support for the most vulnerable children and young people. Failure to act will mean we keep on punishing the most vulnerable in the criminal justice system and leaving them exposed to crime.
“If we are serious about preventing crime, it’s investment in children’s life opportunities, care and education that matters most.”
Co-author of the report, Professor Adam Crawford, Co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre and Professor at the University of Leeds’ School of Law and York Law School, said:
“There is both an urgent need and ripe opportunity to shift the dial on how we advance a ‘whole system’ approach to childhood vulnerability, crime and justice that places children’s needs at the heart of service provision.
“Reducing exposure to harm up-stream and minimising young people’s engagement with criminal justice through diversion are key to preventing children becoming victims of crime, reducing offending and improving outcomes, not only in childhood but across the life-course.”
Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:
“Our prisons are full, and our streets feel unsafe. Hardly a week passes without seeing the horrific consequences of failing to tackle serious violence and exploitation. Teenagers are losing their lives or their liberty, families are left devastated and communities left in shock.
“Frequently, there is a chilling sense of inevitability for many of the most vulnerable children, particularly those with unsupported Special Educational Needs and those in care or on the edge of it. They are at greater risk of being groomed into criminal or sexual exploitation or caught up in gangs and serious violence.
“Supporting these children and their families early, through schools, youth work, and mental health support, is crucial. We need a whole-child and whole-system approach to tackle childhood vulnerability, with children and families at the centre of coordinated services.
“The new Government is already making clear that its approach to tackling serious violence and exploitation will include intervention and diversion programmes to support vulnerable teenagers, including its forthcoming Young Futures pilots.
“This provides a vital opportunity to start to rebuild and refresh the community-based, targeted interventions that we know can divert young people away from harm, boosting life chances, and saving lives.
“The recommendations set out in this report should be at the heart of that programme.”
Professor Mark Mon Williams, Child of The North report series editor and Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre co-investigator, said:
“Preventing children from entering the criminal justice system is not just a moral imperative but essential for a prosperous country. We would empty our prisons if we invested in early interventions that address the root causes of vulnerability. The evidence shows we can break intergenerational cycles of disadvantage by prioritising education, mental health, and community support.
“Breaking the links between a disadvantaged childhood and the criminal justice system would create a brighter future for all children and the whole of our society.”
Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
“As a paediatrician, it is easy to feel hopeless when you look at the figures for the number of children entering the criminal justice system. It is heart sinking to know that we can often predict which children will end up getting into trouble and yet historically the system has felt paralysed to act early.
“This report gives me hope. We can break the seemingly endless cycle of intergenerational disadvantage. Here we have a set of recommendations using a holistic child-centred approach, underpinned by the use of data, that can reset the trajectory to one that is brighter and more optimistic.”
Links
- Read “An evidence-based plan for addressing childhood vulnerability, crime and justice”
- ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre
- Child of the North
- Centre for Young Lives
