17 February 2015

New briefing highlights promising practice by Police and Crime Commissioners in providing effective services to young adults

News and events
A new briefing, published today, highlights some of the innovative work beign championed by a number of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to cut crime and reduce reoffending among young adults (18-24).

The briefing is the first in a series of ‘PCC spotlights’ being published by Revolving Doors Agency and the Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A) as part of the First Generation Project. The series will highlight promising practice among PCCs which could be replicated in other areas.

Young adults (18-24) are disproportionately likely to come into contact with the police, both as victims and offenders. They represent 10% of the population, but make up around a third of the probation caseload, a third of those sentenced to a community sentence each year and almost a third of those sent to prison.

Many of these young offenders have multiple and complex needs, but currently fall through gaps between youth and adult support services and face a social and criminal justice system that rarely takes account of their varying levels of maturity. High reoffending rates among young adult offenders show there is a need for improvement – around three quarters of young adults released from prison reoffend within two years.

The ‘PCC Spotlight’ briefing argues that PCCs should capitalise on their position to address these issues on a local basis, cutting across the youth and adults systems with their key strategic and commissioning role. In some areas PCCs are already doing this. For example:

  • Leicestershire and Rutland – Where a multi-agency Young Adult’s Project (YAP!) was launched by the PCC Sir Clive Loader, taking a ’whole system‘ approach to implementing better responses for young adults across the criminal justice process.
  • South Wales – Where the PCC Alun Michael is looking to extend “the principles of youth offending teams to young adults” and has piloted innovative new approaches to improve diversion of young adults from crime, and increase employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
  • Gloucestershire – Where PCC Martin Surl has contributed to a range of community schemes for vulnerable “young people becoming adults” (including offenders and those at risk of getting involved in offending) through the Commissioning Fund

The briefing highlights common features of this work that other areas should consider in developing more effective approahces to young adult crime locally. This includes supporting tailoured interventions for those in the transition to adulthood, exploring opportunities for effective diversion of young adults, and bringing a range of partners together at a strategic level to tackle this issue.

Whether or not the PCC model survives the next election, there is much to learn from how different areas have sought to improve responses for young adults.

Leicestershire PCC Sir Clive Loader said:

“It is vitally important that we better understand young adults and take into account their developing maturity and specific needs. The process of becoming an adult can be fraught with difficulties and is a risky time, particularly for those young adults already involved in the criminal justice system due to their backgrounds. Partners and I are working together to achieve better outcomes amongst this age group and, as a result, see a dramatic change in those offending and re-offending.”

Vicki Helyar-Cardwell, Director of Research and Development at Revolving Doors Agency said:

“Police and crime commissioners remain a controversial addition to the local landscape. However, as this briefing shows, there is much to learn from the experience of the first generation of PCCs so far, and much that different areas can learn from each other in tackling challenging issues such as young adult crime and reoffending.”

The briefing is available here: http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/documents/pcc-spotlight-young-adults/

For further information, please contact: Shane Britton, Policy Manager, Revolving Doors Agency. Email:[email protected] , Tel: 020 7940 9743