YEF calls for urgent action to tackle racial disproportionality in violence affecting children

It is calling for action across government, youth justice, education, healthcare and policing to tackle the impact of violence on young people from certain ethnic backgrounds.

The YEF report highlights that despite making up just five per cent of 16-24-year-olds in England and Wales, black young people account for 34 per cent of homicide victims in this age group. They are also five times more likely to receive custodial sentences for homicide.

The research says that the systems meant to protect children from violence – across policing, youth justice, health and education – are not equally accessible.

Black children are more than twice (159 per cent) as likely to be stopped and searched, raising concerns about fairness and trust in policing. Meanwhile, black and Asian children are less likely to be referred to mental health services, limiting their access to essential support.

While most children convicted or cautioned in England and Wales are white (72 per cent), black children are overrepresented at each stage of the justice system, the YEF says.

While youth convictions and cautions have fallen by 72 per cent over the past decade, the proportion of black children in the system has increased from eight per cent to 11 per cent, while the share of mixed ethnicity children has risen from three per cent to ten per cent.

The report also highlights striking disparities within ethnic groups. Black Caribbean children are more than three times more likely to be arrested than their population share suggests, compared with a much lower rate for black African children. White Irish and Gypsy or Irish Traveller children also face significant overrepresentation, by 227 per cent and 118 per cent respectively.

Jon Yates, chief executive officer at the YEF, said: “It’s wrong and shocking that a black child in our country is six times more likely to be murdered. All of us want to live in a country where no child fears violence. To get there we have to talk honestly about race and be prepared to act when things are unfair.

The YEF wants the Government to take five urgent actions to tackle the disproportionate impact of violence on young people from certain ethnic backgrounds, which Mr Yates says “show how we make our country fairer and safer for everyone”.

The five evidence-based changes are:

1. Ensure stop and search is fair and intelligence-led – stop and search must be based on intelligence to improve effectiveness and rebuild trust. Alternative policing methods, such as problem-oriented and hotspot policing, are more effective and carry fewer risks of harm or mistrust.
2. Make Outcome 22 a positive outcome in the police outcomes framework – Outcome 22 allows the police to divert children who have committed offences to positive support that could protect them against future involvement in crime. However, the YEF says it is not currently seen as a positive outcome in the crime reporting outcomes framework, which means that police can be disincentivised from using it. The Government should change this.
3. Monitor and improve access to psychological therapy – therapeutic approaches have been shown to reduce involvement in violence. Yet black and Asian children struggle to access mental health support. Better monitoring and more culturally sensitive services will help to improve access.
4. Deliver evidence-based support to children absent or excluded from school – absence, suspension and exclusion from school are associated with involvement in crime and violence, and some ethnic groups are more likely to be affected. The Government should support schools in delivering evidence-informed strategies for reducing absence and providing appropriate support for suspended and excluded children.
5. Urgently reduce disproportionality and improve conditions in youth custody – black and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are starkly overrepresented in custody. Urgent action is needed to address these disparities and improve the conditions and safety of children serving custodial sentences. There should be investment in post-custody resettlement programmes to support rehabilitation.

The YEF says its findings add to “increasing evidence of racial disproportionality in violence and the justice system”. In November last year, the Crown Prosecution Service published an action plan to tackle racial bias in prosecution decisions.

Keith Fraser, chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), said: “This YEF report is a welcome addition to the evidence base. It highlights the shocking disproportionality affecting some children in the youth justice system, particularly those from black, Mixed, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds.

“It is unacceptable that a child is more likely to be criminalised because of their background. We agree with the recommendations and strongly advocate that children should be treated as children; irrespective of their ethnicity.

“The YJB has been seeking to highlight the issues of over-representation within the youth justice system for over a decade and in our Strategic Plan for 2024-27 we commit to using all of our legal powers and influence as we collaborate with our partners to address the contributors to racial disparity.”

Dez Brown, chief executive officer at the charity Spark2Life, said: “Spark2Life welcomes the call for action across youth justice, education, healthcare and policing to tackle racial disproportionality in violence affecting children and young people. The report highlights the need to ensure that addressing one public health issue doesn’t inadvertently create another for specific racial groups that are disproportionately targeted.

“There is clear factual evidence of racial disparity, if institutions choose not to prioritise action, they are consciously culpable of racism. I hope this is not the case – as Rt Hon David Lammy MP said ‘Explain or Reform’.”

Reflecting on the need for stop and search to be fair and intelligence-led, Hanzala, a member of the YEF’s Youth Advisory Board, said: “I somewhat agree with stop and search. I was on a run recently, there was a robbery nearby. They searched me, but I didn’t fit the description of the tall black male.

“I did feel panicked… I’ve seen stop and searches where knives have been found especially in Bradford, so I think there should be stop and search.

“If there are people who are being watched and then targeted I agree with that, but stopping those that are of colour for no reason undermines the whole process.”