Dr Nicholas Marsh’s Post

I am grateful to my friend Russell Webster for breaking down the Youth Justice Board’s annual youth justice statistics. I was struck by the data on first time entrants (FTEs) to the youth justice system. While there was a 1% increase in the number of child FTEs, the apparent good news is the fall in the numbers of child FTEs from each ethnic minority groups, with the biggest drop (8%) among Black child FTEs. Read more here: The State Of Youth Justice (2024) https://lnkd.in/eVK66Vjb   #youthjustice #juvenilejustice #justicesystem

🚨 Blog Alert: Check out our latest blog on supporting youth impacted by the justice system! Positive youth development is critical in all approaches to supporting youth, particularly our most vulnerable populations! Forum for Youth Investment https://lnkd.in/g86_NcM7

We've published a new research report: Addressing racial disparity in the youth justice system. 📊 We all have an important role to play in addressing racial disparities, so we commissioned Revolving Doors to outline ways to influence and improve practice across the sector. 📈   The report showcases a range of promising practices across England and Wales that can help inform services in other areas who are looking to either adapt or adopt a similar approach. Ongoing implementation and evaluation over the longer term is essential to inform our overall understanding of the effectiveness of these programmes in a range of contexts.     Change starts with listening and the examples in this report emphasises the value of collecting and sharing monitoring and evaluation data including children's views. This is how we will drive meaningful reforms in youth justice. 👂 Read the report ⬇ https://lnkd.in/e-4KAJAK #YouthJustice #Research #BlackHistoryMonth #RacialDisparity

Top 10 Reforms for a Healthier, Fairer Future in Youth Justice  At ARACY, we believe the key to transforming Australia’s youth justice system lies in addressing the root causes of contact with police and the legal system through a public health lens. Our recent submission to the Senate Inquiry on Youth Justice, by Dr Kristy Noble, outlines how a holistic approach to health and wellbeing can help prevent young people from entering the justice system, prevent diseases and improve their long-term outcomes.   By embedding public health principles into youth justice, we can ensure every young person has the support they need to thrive. Let's create a fairer, healthier future for all young Australians.   Read Kristy's Top 10 in detail and the full submission to the Senate Inquiry: https://lnkd.in/g6eYxpkD Want to work with us to reform youth justice policy? Partner with us: https://lnkd.in/gzQDkEt4 Anthony Albanese Mark Dreyfus Amanda Rishworth Mark Butler Jason Clare MP Dr. Anne Aly

 Response to the Youth Justice Boards research paper on 'Addressing racial Disparity' 📢 Racial disparities in the youth justice system are demoralising, frustrating, and just unacceptable. As someone who advocates for reforming our justice system, I am perpetually concerned by the substantial racial inequities in youth justice, highlighted further in the Youth Justice Board's (YJB) most recent report on promising practices. We do not need more figures to tell us what we already know: Black children are over-represented in all stages, from initial police interaction through prison sentencing, and are 6.5 times more likely to be strip searched than their white counterparts. Despite accounting for risk factors such as offence type and local area deprivation, Black and mixed-ethnicity, youth continue to have disproportionately high reoffending rates. They are more likely to receive custodial sentences. 📉 These disparities are not isolated incidents but point to deep-rooted, systemic issues that demand collective attention and action. Marginalised and excluded from education and support systems, poverty and local deprivation, and institutional and structural bias are some of the factors contributing to these disparities. Denying children access to diversion programs, which rely on guilty pleas or admissions of guilt, disproportionately affects communities of colour. How can we, as a society, condone such inequities? 🌱But there is optimism despite the frustration. The YJB report highlights promising approaches in England and Wales that break down barriers and fit the Child First framework. Spark2Life, a Black-led organisation, provides therapeutic mentoring to young people, reducing recidivism by 90%. This report emphasises the need for sustained funding for these promising approaches, thorough evaluation to identify effective strategies and a firm commitment to supporting grass recognitions deeply embedded in communities of colour. 🫂 The report makes it clear that more than acknowledging the problem is needed. We need sustained funding for these promising approaches, thorough evaluation to identify effective strategies and a firm commitment to supporting grass recognitions deeply embedded in communities of colour. This is the path to real change. Let us use this research to inspire action.

'The fight to save vulnerable UK children from being kicked out of school - Two hundred lawyers have come together to challenge a wave of discriminatory exclusions' - Our Ollie Persey speaks to The Guardian about the #SchoolInclusionProject (#SIP). Read on ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eCZUruYM "Government data released this summer showed there were a record 9,400 permanent exclusions in 2022-23, up 45% from 6,500 in 2021-22. ...Children with special educational needs and disabilities (#SEND), those on free school meals and Black ­children are all significantly more likely to be permanently excluded... ...Now a group of 200 lawyers has come together to, as they put it, “put boots on the ground” in ­exclusion hearings. They want to fight for pupils... who, they say, are ­disruptive only because their needs are not being met. “The institutional inequality of arms in these hearings is huge,” said Ollie Persey, a human rights barrister at Garden Court Chambers. He said it is “really common” for lawyers in the School Inclusion Project, which Persey helped set up, to be called in to help Black Caribbean boys with SEND – often with no official diagnosis – who have been excluded: “Behaviour that arises from unmet additional needs is often profiled by schools as Black boys being more violent.” Thanks to cuts under the last government, low-income families now rarely get #LegalAid to contest exclusions – a “breach of #HumanRights” that Persey and colleagues are challenging in a test case going through the high court." Further information on this test case is available here ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eEv3m42T ✨Find out more information on how you can get involved in the #SchoolInclusionProject (#SIP) to address systemic discrimination in the #Education system here ▶️https://lnkd.in/eh-Ce-Wd

🚨 Groundbreaking new research paper highlights link between quality early childhood education and care and a reduction in youth crime 🚨 Queensland childhood experts saying the report should be a major consideration for all political parties ahead of tomorrow's state election. The "Impact of a Preschool Communication Program and Comprehensive Family Support on Serious Youth Offending" report examined the impact of Queensland’s Pathways to Prevention Project, finding that the preschool program reduced the number of young people becoming involved in the judicial system by more than 50 per cent. The report also highlights the long-term benefits of early prevention programs as a more cost effective measure to deal with youth offending than remedial approaches, and suggests that community partnerships, allied health supports, and evidence-based strategies should form a key part of any youth justice strategy. PeakCare's state election platform has called for evidence based early intervention initiatives within existing literature to be front and centre of government investment to protect our state's future prosperity. We welcome the findings of this study as additional evidence that reforming our early learning and care system and making sure kids and families get access to the wrap-around supports they need in their early years needs to be a part of the solution. Find out more about the report 👉 https://lnkd.in/geiGyHbx Read PeakCare's state election platform 👉 https://lnkd.in/gYKb-48z Australian Institute of Criminology Griffith University PeakCare Queensland Essential Tom Allsop #Queensland #PathwaysToPrevention #Child #Protection #Youth #Justice #Evidence #Research #Initiatives #Early #Intervention #Prevention #Election #Commitments #Platform #Community #Safety #ECEC #RightToEducation #Advocacy #YourPeak

⭐ Thanks, PeakCare Queensland for highlighting this important and illuminating research. ⭐ The lives of Queensland’s children living in out-of-home care are shaped by the profound impacts of early trauma, abuse, and neglect on their cognitive, social, and emotional development.   Up to 63% of Queensland's young people involved in the youth justice system are disengaged from education and many have experienced family violence and trauma.   Early intervention with the implementation of holistic, trauma-informed learning support can affect transformative change in the lives of children and young people living in out-of-home care.   Aligned with PeakCare Queensland's state election platform calling for evidence-based early intervention initiatives, we’re asking the Queensland Government to help fund and expand access for 4–8-year-olds to our Little Stars Learners program, a comprehensive, trauma-informed, trauma-responsive, relationship-based learning intervention for children living in out-of-home care.   Our evidence-based program helps to re-wire trauma-affected brains to prevent the ongoing impacts of trauma including involvement with the youth justice system, close development gaps, and stop the cycle of abuse. We do this by establishing a deep connection first, empowering the learners (and their carers) to feel seen, safe, heard, and valued - laying the groundwork for transformative learning experiences. Through a blend of fun, games, and flexibility, we foster a lifelong love for learning that helps to prevent   Our Little Stars Learners program not only transforms young lives but also delivers a high return on investment. For every $1 invested, $5.60 of social and economic value is created, benefiting children, carers, the education system, and the community at large, as confirmed by our recent Social Return on Investment Analysis completed by Lumenia.   📰 View the Lumenia report: https://lnkd.in/gd84VM52   📺 Watch our compelling new video that highlights our vital work at the Little Stars Foundation including our Little Stars Learners program here: https://lnkd.in/g7eyPmGy   🌠 Donate or become a corporate sponsor to help Queensland kids thrive: https://lnkd.in/gxGsXs34 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ggCEa8bW ⭐  ⭐  ⭐     PeakCare Queensland Australian Institute of Criminology Griffith University Essential Tom Allsop #Queensland #PathwaysToPrevention #Child #Protection #Youth #Justice #Evidence #Research #Initiatives #Early #Intervention #Prevention #Election #Commitments #Platform #Community #Safety #ECEC #RightToEducation #Advocacy #YourPeak #Trauma

📢 Connecting Book Revisit 📢 Over the last few weeks, I've been travelling the country sharing the practice, research & personal experiences that constructed my 2nd book (see below) with social care, education & youth justice colleagues. The key components of how I strategically used my own experiences of navigating adversity, addiction & custody of Presence, Attunement, Connection & Trust (PACT) in youth justice practice have been so well recieved, I thought I'd reshare the link. The book focusses on the idea that if we stop asking for fundamental changes in self of children in trouble, and help them navigate their context of inequality and social exclusion, we are more likely to develop trusting connections. Have a go: 👇🏼

“Most young people will stop offending without intervention as they mature, and there are negative consequences related to formal justice system involvement. It, therefore, makes sense to divert youth who are unlikely to re-offend.”    Our recent blog explores innovative strategies designed to provide tailored interventions for young justice-involved individuals, emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment. Discover how diversion can mitigate the adverse effects of formal processing, balance accountability with support, and foster fair decision-making for better outcomes both individually and within society. Through insightful analysis and real-world examples, we highlight the importance of recognizing each youth's unique needs and risks, ultimately paving the way for a more effective and humane approach to justice.     Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/gy9buH3F #Diversion #YouthDiversion #Rehabilitation #Justice #PublicSafety