Supporting children's resettlement ('reentry') after custody : beyond the risk paradigm

In response to policy concerns in England and Wales and internationally, a considerable knowledge-base has identified factors statistically associated with reduced recidivism for children leaving custody. However, despite resulting guidance on how to support resettlement (‘reentry’), practice and outcomes remain disappointing. We argue that this failure reflects weaknesses in the dominant ‘risk paradigm’, which lacks a theory of change and undermines children’s agency. We conceptualise resettlement as a pro-social identity-shift. A new practice model reinterprets existing risk-based messages accordingly, and crucially adds principles to guide a child’s desistance journey. However, successful implementation may require the model to inform culture change more broadly across youth justice

Resettlement of young people leaving custody: Lessons from the literature update: July 2013

This paper is the first in a series of quarterly updates intended to outline the latest available lessons from research about resettlement of young offenders. It provides an overview of the relevant literature published in the period since Beyond Youth Custody’s extensive review of the literature on the resettlement of young people from custody was published in April 2013. It highlights that the number of children in custody has continued to fall. While clearly welcome, this presents challenges for the secure estate especially in terms of resettlement provision. It outlines some of the proposed changes to the secure estate such as decommissioning of places in establishments, new healthcare standards and the government’s consultation around the intention to redesign the secure estate to put education at the heart of provision. It summarises the findings of a recent small-scale qualitative study with girls in a YOI, highlighting key factors that encourage girls and young women to engage with resettlement services

Resettlement of young people leaving custody: Lessons from the literature

This literature review aims to set out the research and practice evidence about effective resettlement services for children and young adults and can be used to inform future policy and practice to ensure service delivery is evidence based. The findings of the review will help to steer the focus of Beyond Youth Custody’s research over the duration of the programme and act as a baseline to assess how our understanding has advanced in terms of what works in facilitating the transition from youth custody to the community and beyond. In addition, the review highlights some examples of good practice, as well as the emerging key principles of effective resettlement provision

Key lessons from the RESET programme: Recommendations for the resettlement of young offenders

Reoffending rates for young offenders released from custody are high. Of approximately 6000 young people sentenced to custody each year, between 70% and 90% will reoffend within 12 months. Effective resettlement is vital to achieving better outcomes. RESET was a major experimental project led by Catch 22 and funded by European Equal, designed to improve outcomes. This executive briefing summarises the findings from the evaluation of RESET by CSR-Salford and ARCS UK. It explores lessons for mainstream resettlement support, making key recommendations about: coordinating resources and staff, making local partnerships, preparing young people for release, and communication and information flow between custody and community. It concludes that successful resettlement crucially requires: (1) widespread partnership coordination to address offenders' multiple needs; and (2) effective cooperation between custodial institutions and community agencies to ensure preparedness for release

Engaging fathers in preventive services: fathers and family centres

Although many fathers are spending more time caring for their children in the home, men continue to be conspicuous by their absence from mainstream family support services. Family centres - community-based services for families in need and at risk - are no exception to this, despite widespread enthusiasm for developing work with fathers in these settings. This qualitative study by the independent Policy Research Bureau focuses on the attitudes and experiences of over 90 fathers, mothers and staff in thirteen family centres across England and Wales. The study revealed that while family centres often cater well to fathers in particular circumstances, such as lone parents, fathers in more ordinary circumstances tended to be deterred by the feminised atmosphere of centres and by the limited range of activities more likely to appeal to men. The research strongly suggested that there is a need for greater clarity about who family centres are really intended for, in order to develop good practice in working with fathers in family support settings

‘Now all I care about is my future’ – supporting the shift : a summary

This summary report proposes a theory of change for the effective resettlement of young people leaving custody. It recognises that effective and sustainable resettlement facilitates a shift in the way that a young person sees themselves, from an identity that promotes offending to one that promotes a positive contribution to society. The framework highlights how services should guide the young person with structural and personal support. This will assist in their development of a positive identity and become a new narrative for how they relate to others. Within the framework, young people are recognised as the central agent in their own rehabilitation. Effectiveness of resettlement support is not just dependent on what steps providers take at different stages of the sentence, but how they take them. The report identifies five key characteristics of all resettlement support that research has consistently shown are crucial to effectiveness and sustainability: Constructive Co-created Customised Consistent Co-ordinated The framework has been designed as a resource for policy makers, decision makers, academics studying youth justice and will be of interest to anyone working with young people

"Now all I care about is my future" : Supporting the shift : Framework for the effective resettlement of young people leaving custody (Full report)

This document presents a new framework for understanding effective resettlement of young people. It has been produced as part of the Beyond Youth Custody (BYC) programme, funded under the Big Lottery Fund’s Youth in Focus initiative. This new framework – which draws on findings from across the programme – proposes, for the first time internationally, a ‘theory of change’ for the sustainable re-entry of young people after custody. This reconceptualisation of resettlement enables a better understanding of why practices previously shown by research to improve recidivism rates are effective. This theory of change recognises that effective and sustainable resettlement facilitates a shift in the way that a young person sees themselves, from an identity that promotes offending to one that promotes positive contribution to society. The subsequent framework highlights how service providers should support the young person to develop a positive identity – a new narrative for how they relate to others. This involves guiding and enabling the young person – through personal and structural support respectively – to create new roles in their life story that foster and reinforce this positive identity that promotes wellbeing and desistance. Within this framework, we can identify five key characteristics that research has shown are important for all resettlement support. These characteristics provide a reflective checklist for providers to evaluate and (if necessary) redesign their support in order to help young people achieve a positive identity that leads to sustainable resettlement

Using an identity lens : constructive working with children in the criminal justice system

Research has shown that identity, and how you feel about yourself, can be key to moving forward with life and away from crime. Working with the University of Salford, Youth Offending Teams and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, this resource has been developed to promote a constructive, identity-focused approach to ultimately help divert children away from progressing further through the criminal justice system. Using the principles of the Nacro-led Beyond Youth Custody programme, this toolkit outlines how these can be applied to working with children before custody to support them towards positive outcomes and prevent further offending