The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice’s Research Lead, Dr Nina Vaswani and co-investigators Professor Yvette Taylor (Education) and Dr Michelle Donnelly (Law) have been awarded a prestigious Nuffield Foundation research grant for the project “Challenging Justice Inequalities with Children in Conflict with the Law”.  The project will also benefit from input from Dr Robert Porter (CELCIS) as well as a group of 10 highly experienced interdisciplinary academics, policymakers and practitioners. This project acknowledges that children in conflict with the law experience signi ..read more

At Walk & Talks, run by Fife Justice Social Work, people who are subject to CPO’s meet up to discuss the challenges they’re facing. In this piece, group members and staff share an insight into the walks, what they offer to those taking part, and why they’ve become such an important part of the team’s work.  Aimee Ross – Fife Connect Project Co-ordinator: Walk & Talks have long been a pivotal part of the Women’s Justice Team. They are held on the last Friday of every month, and we send an open invitation to all the women we are working with (along with their worker). The locat ..read more

Event Overview On November 16th, 2023 the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and Social Work Scotland hosted the second national event in a series exploring alternatives to the use of Police Custody for children in conflict with the law. The event sought to explore how the Place of Safety (PoS) model is currently used and how we can learn from wider rights-respecting approaches like Bairns’ Hoose.  The event was attended by over 70 professionals representing a diverse range of specialisms across the justice and care sectors including public bodies, academics and the thi ..read more

One of the many challenges care experienced children and young people face is that they are disproportionately more likely to come into contact with the justice system(s). Reflecting on both the ‘Sentencing of Care Experienced Young People‘ webinar and recent Court Report Refresher training CYCJ Practice Development Advisor Ross Gibson considers the scale of the challenge when it comes to disentangling an inequitable system.  A recent CYCJ webinar heard from a number of speakers who considered the role that care experience had upon interaction with the justice system.  As the speaker ..read more

With its roots traced back to indigenous populations from all across the globe, restorative justice, or RJ, is one of the most organic and widely used methods of moving forward from acts of harm in a way that is appropriate for both parties involved.   While our partners, Community Justice Scotland, explore what restorative justice could and should look like with the adult population, CYCJ have spent time over the last few months deep diving into what children and young people think of restorative justice, with this work being pulled together to support delivery of the Scottish Gover ..read more

Thomas Dalli joined CYCJ’s Office Support Team on a 10 week work placement, starting in September 2023. Thomas joined us via Project SEARCH, a transition-to-work programme which supports young adults with learning disabilities, or autism spectrum disorders to access opportunities in the workplace. During his time with us, Thomas has become an asset to the team, and he will continue to be involved in CYCJ work in different ways. With his placement coming to an end this week, Thomas took the time to reflect on his experience, and what he’s learned over the last 10 weeks.    I have lear ..read more

At the start of Care Experience Week 2023, CYCJ Director Fiona Dyer shares this insight into the work that we’re going to help shape a brighter, fairer future for care experienced children and young people in Scotland.  This time last year I wrote a blog highlighting how, following the publication of the Independent Care Review, CYCJ adapted our approach.  We want to contribute to the nationwide effort to make Scotland ‘the best place in the world to grow up’ for care experienced children and young people. A year down the line, we have put a lot of energy and resource into doing our ..read more

I have really enjoyed being part of the Secure Care Champions Group, meeting new people and increasing my knowledge about the Standards, how they are being used by other agencies, and the difference they are making for children, young people, and families. Cyrenians’ ‘Keeping Families Together’ service supports children (12+) in secure accommodation and their families at the point of admission, and those who are in the process of returning home. Our award-winning ‘Amber’ model of mediation and support offers 1-to-1 support from skilled mediators, practical support for each family member, and c ..read more

CYCJ are co-developing a young researchers programme for children and young people, with children and young people. The first pilot was led by ‘The Research Raccoons’ from Drumchapel High School who carried out an interesting piece of research on ‘Life in Space’. In addition to becoming brilliant young researchers and undertaking this ‘out of this world’ research, they also designed an amazing comic book to help explain research to other young people.    Co-production is very often a value-driven endeavour. It often stems from a desire to make the systems and processes by which ..read more

Scotland’s progress towards having a youth justice system that is trauma-informed and rights-respecting was at the heart of last month’s National Youth Justice Conference. There is shared ownership of the goal, but how do we get there? What barriers are in place, what solutions are in progress – and what resources do those solutions require? The Children’s Care and Justice Bill (CCJB) was our theme, and its headline provision – putting an end to the practice of placing 16- and 17- year-olds in YOI – was roundly celebrated, whilst other areas of the bill, and its practice implications were the ..read more