Page 82 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

appropriate diversion interventions. 227 While a step in the right direction, we
consider that children may connect with and trust more an individual who is
not connected to statutory services as is currently the case. Despite welcoming
the positive anticipated pilot, we recommend that the police embed
independent navigators in custody suites which receive high numbers of
BAME children. 228

4.7 These navigators could be from youth centres or have had similar experiences
to the children in custody. As BAME children tend to have so little trust in the
YJS, simply having BAME workers may not be enough. We have seen useful
parallels in ‘Credible Messengers’, which have been increasingly used in the
United States. 229 The results have been positive, with a 50% reduction in felony
arrests, 33% reduced reoffending and a 76% reduction in gun homicides for
those who participated in the programme. 230

4.8 Although the independent navigators we recommend would not go on to form
mentoring relationships with the children, the value of their independence and
communication skills is clear. We consider that Violence Reduction Units
(VRUs) may be best placed to identify and assess these navigators. This is
because VRUs should have knowledge of local issues, and who is working
locally on them, through the connections they have built. We also consider that
the MoJ must allocate adequate resource to YOTs and VRUs. These are the
two YJS agencies that children are most likely to come into contact with, after

227 MyLondon, ‘New project to divert children away from crime launched in North London’, October
2020.
228 In addition to this programme, a remote welfare hub has been established at Wood Green custody
suite. This treats the first hour that a child is in custody as a ‘golden hour’, where workers seek to obtain
as much relevant information about the child as possible. Using remote experts, who are able to contact
different local authorities, the hub can establish any welfare needs a child may have, and develop
interventions if necessary. We have heard examples of success from this model. For example, in one
instance, workers identified that a 14-year-old girl was pregnant, and so the police consequently
removed her from custody. This might not have happened in normal circumstances, as she did not tell
the police officers but she did tell the youth workers. We are encouraged by this, and subject to positive
evaluation, consider that this programme be rolled out to custody centres that are likely to receive the
most children.
229 Credible Messengers are mentors for children either in trouble with the law or at risk of doing so.
They have similar lived experience to the children they mentor, often having been incarcerated
themselves and have gone on to transform their lives. Coming from a similar background, they are able
to engage with the children they mentor on a similar level, allowing trust to develop.
230 ‘A transforming approach to justice’, Credible Messenger Justice Center.

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