2017 report from Beyond Youth Custody

Our Beyond Youth Custody (BYC) programme, which brings together Nacro with three research and evaluation partners, ARCS (UK), and Salford and Bedfordshire universities, has released a new report that 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:

1. Constructive
2. Co-created
3. Customised
4. Consistent
5. 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 leaving custody.

A summary version of this report can be found here.

A full version of this report, which includes academic references and suggestions for further reading, can be found here.

BYC will be at the Youth Justice Convention 2017 in Leicester on 21 and 22 November. Visit stand 27 to pick up your copy of the report.