Intersecting inequalities: child social care involvement and youth justice contact

Young people with care experience are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system. Less is known about what happens to those young people who are supported by children’s social care under child in need or on a child protection plan. This webinar will discuss research on how the contact with the criminal justice system differs across different levels of children’s social care support and how outcomes differ between the local authorities of England.

The session will also explore the relationship between care experience, ethnicity and youth justice involvement in England, which highlights the stark injustices. Drawing on the research findings will allow an opportunity to reflect on the potential for administrative data to challenge injustice and effect real change.

In this webinar, we will hear from:

• Dr Anna Leyland, an Administrative Data Research UK funded Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield. Her work looks at the role of the family, communities, public services and poverty in shaping how a child develops, their experiences during childhood, and as they grow into adults.
• Dr Katie Hunter, a Lecturer in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Katie draws on both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the relationship between care experience and justice systems involvement, with a focus on the intersections with gender and ethnicity.
• Nicola Smith who is a Senior Policy Adviser at Barnardo’s. Nicola will outline findings from qualitative research the charity has done in partnership with research agency Listen Up looking at the lived experience of Black care leavers who have spent time in the prison system. She will particularly highlight lessons for policy makers from this work including recommendations aimed at ensuring both the care and criminal justice systems are better able to meet the needs of this group of young people.