Agenda Alliance responds to the independent review into placement and care of girls in custody

An independent review into placements and care for girls in youth custody, commissioned by the Minister for Youth Justice, has been published today.

The review, led by Susannah Hancock, explored how to successfully manage and support girls in custody, after repeated concerns for their safety within Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).

Key points include:

• Girls make up just 2% of the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) meaning their distinct needs have been overlooked and neglected.
• Girls’ criminalisation is usually linked to extensive and multiple experiences of trauma and victimisation, which is then compounded by contact with the Youth Justice System.
• YOIs are not able to provide girls with the therapeutic and trauma-informed environment that they need, and girls should no longer be placed in them with immediate effect.

Key recommendations include:

• The use of custody should always be a last resort for girls, with government policy moving to place all girls in Secure Children’s Homes or the Secure School.
• A ‘Girls Consortia’ of a small dedicated group of these institutions should be created to collaborate and manage placements for girls effectively.
• A new national pathway should be created to ensure appropriate gender-responsive trauma-informed placements for all girls.
• A Girls’ Justice Strategic Board should be established to support this, working closely with the Women’s Justice Board.
• More broadly, the Ministry of Justice should collaborate across government, working with the YJB, DfE, DHSC, NHSE and local authorities to develop alternative options for community-based provision for girls. This should build on learning from existing models of successful practice, such as the Hope Street women’s hub.

Jess Southgate, Deputy CEO of Agenda Alliance, said:

“We are glad to see the published recommendations of Susannah Hancock’s independent review, which supports what we and other experts in the youth justice sector have been calling for.

Our research, which we are pleased to see referenced in this review, has built a strong evidence base for the need for a specialist, gender-responsive, trauma-informed approach to girls and young women in custody. Girls in custody have experienced extensive trauma and abuse and currently experience an unacceptable level of harm due to lack of appropriate care.

We therefore endorse these recommendations and urge the government to adopt them swiftly, working closely with experts in girls’ needs and those with lived experience to shape any future work and service design.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• Agenda Alliance is a national charity campaigning to change systems and services to better serve women and girls experiencing multiple unmet needs.
  
• Agenda Alliance and Women in Prison jointly wrote to the Guardian in March 2024 after it was found girls at YOI Wetherby had been repeatedly strip-searched by male officers.
  
• Their Young Women’s Justice Project, in partnership with Alliance for Youth Justice, was the first to make the national case for the needs of young women at risk of the criminal justice system.
  
• Other projects pay particular attention to the exclusion of girls from school, and girls’ mental health, and the means by which lack of gender, age, trauma, and culturally- responsive support for girls and young women increase their risk of contact with the criminal justice system.