Children in the Criminal Justice System

The primary focus of a Youth Justice System (YJS) is to prevent and reduce the offending behaviour of children aged up to 18 years. The YJS begins once a child aged 10 or over has committed an offence and received an Out of Court Disposal or a Statutory Intervention. The purpose of the Out of Court Disposal is to divert from the formal Criminal Justice System. In Lincolnshire this equates to approximately 60% of outcomes and this mirrors the national trend.  

One of the underpinning principles of the YJS is a commitment to a ‘child first’ approach. This enables children to access Early Help Services prior to entry into the YJS where there is a need for preventative intervention.  

National research and evidence suggest that children in contact with the YJS often have more severe health and wellbeing needs than peers of their own age; indicating they are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. They are more likely to have mental health concerns; to have more than a single mental health condition; to have neurodevelopmental and/or learning difficulties; and/or to have issues of alcohol and substance use. These children frequently face additional difficulties that might include: school exclusion; fragmented family relationships; bereavement; unstable living conditions; or harmful parenting that may be linked to poverty, substance use and mental health needs (Sources: Centre for Mental Health and HM Inspectorate of Probation).

The legislative basis for the delivery of youth justice work is set out through the Crime & Disorder Act (1998). Section 39 (1) requires the co-operation of the named statutory partners to form a YJS. Section 38 (1, 2) identifies the statutory partners and places a duty on them to co-operate to secure youth justice services appropriate to their area. These statutory partners are the local authority (this should include children’s social care and education); the police; the probation service; and health. 

Under the Crime and Disorder Act, Lincolnshire Youth Justice Service is required to publish a strategic plan outlining its key commitments and priorities. The plan outlines how the Youth Justice Service will work with key partners to meet statutory obligations in respect of reducing offending; supporting victims of crime; and safeguarding children.  

The  Case management guidance and Standards for children in the YJS define the minimum expectations for all agencies that provide statutory services to promote good outcomes in the YJS. These standards are determined by the Secretary of State for Justice on the Youth Justice Board (YJB).  

The standards aim to: 

• Provide a framework for youth justice practice and ensure that quality is maintained.
• Encourage and support innovation and good practice to improve outcomes for children who commit crime.  
• Ensure that every child lives a safe and crime-free life, and makes a positive contribution to society.
• Align with the YJB’s ‘Child first, offender second’ principle.
• Assist the YJB and inspectorates when they assess whether youth justice services are meeting statutory requirements.

NHS England Health and Justice (NHS Health and justice) is responsible for “commissioning services that reduce inequalities and meet the health and wellbeing needs of service users in, or at risk of contact with, the criminal justice”. The NHS aim to do this by focussing on ‘specific and measurable actions that reduce the health gap between people in the criminal justice system and the wider population, with the aim of achieving equivalence of care. Resolution of these health issues offers not only the prospect of reducing offending and reoffending rates, but significant societal benefits and a reduction in costs for the health service, social care, police, and criminal justice systems’ (Health and justice framework for integration 2022-2025). 

The Health Care Standards for Children in Secure Settings 2023 prioritise providing care that is at least equivalent to that available to their peers in the community, emphasising a trauma-informed, integrated approach. These standards focus on building trusting relationships, ensuring continuity of care and actively involving children in decisions about their healthcare. They address the complex needs of this vulnerable population, including mental health, neurodevelopmental issues, substance use, and physical health concerns.  

The decreasing trends of offending, arrests, and convictions by children in Lincolnshire align with a regional and national picture of child crime. The proportion of children formally entering the YJS is continuing to decline, as is the number of children in youth custody. (source: Youth Justice Board Statistics) 

In January 2026, 125 children and young people were subject to an open intervention with the Lincolnshire Future4Me team. This would include delivery of statutory and non-statutory interventions, therefore including those CYP who accessed the service via the Joint Diversionary Panel.  

 Lincolnshire County Council’s local data shows: 

• Currently around three quarters of children in the youth justice system are male and of white British ethnicity.
• A quarter of the children in the youth justice system are eligible for free school meals.
• A quarter of all children in the justice system were classed as children in need.
• Around 1 in 8 of the youth justice system were Children in Care, compared to around 1 in 200 of the general child population of Lincolnshire (general child population taken from ONS2024 Mid-Year Population Estimate). 
• Approximately a fifth of children in the youth justice system were being offered or receiving support or advice for mental health and wellbeing issues, with at least a third having previously accessed or been offered support and/or advice.
• A third of children in the youth justice system have an education, health and care plan (EHCP).
  (source: Lincolnshire Youth Justice Service case management system) 

Future4Me offer direct work and consultation to support a broad range of children known to Children’s Services in Lincolnshire. The multi-disciplinary team is a responsive and skilled workforce, meeting the diverse and complex needs of our children. They facilitate timely and appropriate intervention so that:  

• Children are supported without the need for statutory intervention – either through social care or youth justice.
• Older adolescents are supported to remain with their existing carers (where this is safe) and there is a reduction in late entrants into the care system. 
• Relationships are maintained with key professionals accessing specialised wrap-around support from both Complex Need Services (CNSs) (including psychology and speech and language) together with positive activities. 
• Appropriate sentencing proposals are offered to Courts to ensure the public are protected and children receive timely and robust interventions. 
• Victims of crime are supported and given a voice through restorative practice to ensure safe communities.
• Children are fully supported to realise their potential.

In Lincolnshire, in collaboration with our partners, we have established a transformational practice framework in working with children that fits within a profile of need for those with presenting complex behaviours and risk factors. The framework has been strengthened by the mobilisation of a CNS which provides direct access to a raft of health professionals including Clinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) link workers together with Specialist Harmful Behaviour Therapists. Youth Justice practitioners are able to access clinical formulation to understand trauma and adversity experienced by children and ensure this is reflected and considered within subsequent assessment and planning. Being formulation-led, they support children to access necessary support through colleagues across health services or where necessary provide direct support via their team of specialists. 

Additionally, the CNS maintain a network of professional contacts across both other local health and voluntary sector services to signpost children, parents and professionals. They also offer support to access these services if needed to overcome any barriers to support, promote engagement and co-ordinate or collaborate on the most effective means of support.  

Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) commission Horizon to support children in making positive changes around alcohol and drug use; whether this be to cut down, quit, gain control or learn more about the risks.  

In April 2020 NHS England commissioned a Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion (CJLD) Service, which is a partnership between Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust and Lincolnshire Action Trust (LAT) that aims to provide early assessment and intervention for children aged 10-17 years, at the earliest point in the criminal justice system. All children in custody are referred to CJLD and offered an Assessment of Need to explore if there is any further support required in terms of mental health and/or other vulnerabilities. 

The Safer Lincolnshire Partnership has used a Ministry of Justice Women’s Community Sector Core Costs Funding Grant, awarded to LAT, to create a Lincolnshire Women’s Strategy to facilitate the delivery in Lincolnshire of the outcomes sought by the Ministry of Justice’s Female Offender Strategy 2018. LAT have since secured additional funding from the High Sheriff and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office to extend their existing mentoring offer for women over the age of 18, and to those under the age of 18. The Women RISE Project, has been developed to improve the health and wellbeing of women across Lincolnshire. Future4Me and LAT have extended this offer to girls who are known to Future4Me and receive an Out of Court Disposal or a statutory intervention.   

The Community and Intervention Team within Future4Me provide a wide range of interventions for children to engage in activities to promote physical and emotional wellbeing. This offer is further enhanced by Strive+, which is a bespoke programme aimed at bridging the gap between 1:1 and open access work, for those children who are most vulnerable.  

During involvement with the Future4Me service, there are several engagement points that enable the voices of children to be gained. We have established formal mechanisms that are used to seek to capture and evaluate children’s voices in the youth justice service at the beginning, during and end of interventions. Feedback is collated through our Service Action Plan leads on Participation and Engagement – and action plans formed based on children and families’ views. The CNS are developing a user voice co-production working group to further obtain service user views.  

Recent feedback was obtained from staff through the Children and Young People’s CNS Phase 2 Service Evaluation 2025 (unpublished) as below: 

• 80% of staff report sufficient training in trauma informed practice.
• 94.6% of staff provided a positive response rating confirming support provided by the Complex Need Service was relevant, useful and impactful on their practice.

The Lincolnshire Youth Justice Service (YJS) Strategic Management Board provides the overarching governance arrangements and strategic direction for the service upon which the respective strategic partners agreed to abide. The Management Board was a significant area of focus during 2023 HM Inspectors of Prisons (HMIP) inspection; the subsequent report said ‘Lincolnshire’s leadership and governance arrangements are a strength. The YOS Management Board sets a well communicated clear vision and strategy, the strategic partnership arrangements are mature and collaborative.  Board members have sufficient seniority to make decision and commit resources from their own agencies. They model positive behaviours and partnership working, and this is reflected in their operational staff’s work with children’.  

The Stakeholder Engagement Group (SEG) is a cross-service forum made up of representatives from various areas within Children’s Services. The group plays a key role in strengthening collaboration between teams and promoting effective approaches to participation and engagement with children and families.  

• Current transformation Programme across Lincolnshire to address unmet mental health needs.  
• The Lincolnshire Autism Partnership Board – Lincolnshire Autism Strategy – is working to improve support within the Lincolnshire criminal and YJSs to recognise autistic presentations and to provide person-centred reasonable adjustments in response. Additionally, this will raise awareness of specific vulnerabilities of some autistic and neurodivergent children to becoming the victims of crime.  

• The CNS have developed a Forensic Psychologist apprentice, who will take responsibility for ensuring that all children who enter the criminal justice system have their health needs fully supported from beginning to end as they navigate the service pathway. 
• Improve the range and quality of feedback gained from children and families in Future4Me.  
• Strengthen how the voice of the child influences practice and developments in Future4Me.  
• Understanding how trauma history shapes the neurodevelopmental and mental health needs of children referred into Future4Me remains a clear priority. Deepening this understanding will support the continued improvement of approaches to working with these children and further tailoring of support to achieve meaningful outcomes in wellbeing, quality of life and reducing long-term inequality. The CNS Phase 3 Strategy and Evaluation will support this goal.  
• We are currently developing our victim reporting to better understand the individual needs of our victim cohort. With this increased understanding, we aspire to better to respond to victims of child crime.  
• Development of our analysis and increased scrutiny of our equality, diversity and inclusion data at both a strategic and operational level to best respond to the needs of children and families across Lincolnshire.