Children's services
West Midlands youth justice services join forces to tackle racial disparity
Published on
Youth Justice services in the West Midlands have joined forces to tackle racial disparity issues in the region.
The Youth Justice Board has awarded Walsall and six other Youth Justice services, along with the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, approximately one million pounds to address racial disparities in the system, as part of a pathfinder project.
The funding award follows independent reviews, such The Lammy Review (2017), which identified disproportionality in the youth justice system as its biggest concern.
The review identified that Black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups are three times more likely to be in custody compared to white counterparts, and that Black children were seven times more likely to enter custody.
In the West Midlands, 19% of children aged 10-17 are of Black or mixed heritage, yet 38% of Black or mixed heritage children of the same age are given a caution or sentence.
The aim of the programme will address systemic challenges concerning ethnic disparity, and design ways to support sector wide developments which improve outcomes for Black and mixed heritage children. Once tested and evaluated, approaches may be rolled out as a new model of work in other parts of the country.
“ There is no doubt that change is needed in the Youth Justice system to address some of the disproportionality issues we’re seeing at the moment.
In the West Midlands, we have so much diversity, so it’s our duty to respond to this and make impactful change.
We’re recognising that Black and mixed heritage children are overrepresented in the system as it stands, and we are committed to improving their outcomes.
Working alongside our neighbouring authorities, and with our partners, we will be designing and delivering a programme of work, with a child-first mindset throughout.
We want to work with young people and their families, to look at how racism, prejudice and discriminatory behaviours and attitudes can be proactively considered.
Although the programme is in its infancy at the moment, we’re looking at the entire system to address these issues, which will hopefully be adopted in policy, procedure and practice. “
Authorities involved in the programme are looking to commission a specialist delivery partner and an independent evaluation partner to work on and evaluate the outcome of the project.
Ends
