The Impact of COVID-19: Reflections from the Youth Justice Sector

Alliance for Youth Justice

The 18-month project aims to understand the unprecedented implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on each stage of the youth justice system. As part of the project, the research team invited AYJ members and the wider youth justice sector to share their experiences of the pandemic and how it has impacted their work.

Youth justice consultant, Michael O’Connor, Criminal Defence Solicitor, Caroline Liggins, and national charity, Khulisa, reflect on how they adapted to COVID-19, impacts on the children they work with, and looking forward to implications for the sector in the longer-term.

AYJ in conversation with Michael O’Connor.

Youth justice consultant, Michael O’Connor, reflects on many of the positive outcomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic such as the stripping away of clinical environments and engaging with children and families with more creative and human practices.

"The key learning for us was that children's risks, lives, challenges, and needs for services didn't go away, and we learnt very quickly from the first lockdown that all children’s services were essential, and we needed to be present where and when children needed us most."

Reflections from Caroline Liggins, Criminal Defence Solicitor 

AYJ associate member and Solicitor, Caroline Liggins, reflects on her blog post written in the early months of the pandemic and shares her concerns on the increase in court case backlogs and the impacts this can have on children’s mental health, child-first outcomes, and the wider youth offending services.

"Recovery will greatly depend on there being a shift in attitude towards youth justice, which will include the government placing children and young people at the heart of the agenda for effective change - a year on I still stand by these comments."

AYJ in conversation with Khulisa 

AYJ member Khulisa, a national charity that provides wellbeing support to vulnerable young people in schools and prisons, shares how COVID-19 forced them to adapt their delivery model with a focus on digital programmes and toolkits - a move that did not come without its challenges.

“Unless something is done immediately to ensure young people are able to spend more time out of the cells and access to the support they need, the impact of the pandemic on prisoners’ wellbeing and general life outcomes may well prove irreversible.”

Further blogs will be shared throughout the course of the project alongside research findings and recommendations, which will be shared widely with practitioners and decision-makers to shape future policy and practice.