Children and Young People's Centre for Justice (CYCJ)
As more workplaces take steps to transform the service user experience, the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) has been leading the way in building rights-respecting services – and supporting others to do so.
The past few years have seen Scotland introduce significant changes that will impact on children and young people, such as The Promise and planned incorporation of United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.
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The Promise Scotland is responsible for driving the work of change demanded by the finding of the Independent Care Review.
It works with all kinds of organisations to support shifts in policy. practice and culture so Scotland can #KeepThePromise it made to care experienced infants, children, young people, adults and their families – that every child grows up loved, safe and respected, able to realise their full potential.
In March 2020, the Scottish Government published its Promise implementation plan ‘Keeping the Promise’ which sets out their actions and commitments to Keep the Promise for care experienced children, young people and their families.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty which sets out the rights every child has. The UK ratified the UNCRC in 1991 but it has not yet been made part of domestic law. This means that many of the protections contained within it are not accessible to children and young people across the UK.
Scotland is in a unique position to make children’s rights part of its laws. This process is called incorporation.
At CYCJ, we recognise that alignment with the outcomes of The Promise and UNCRC will require organisations to develop a rights-upholding approach to children in conflict with the law – and the most effective way to make this happen is by ensuring all our services are designed for (and with) the user. This is particularly important when it comes to children and young people, many of whom don’t have a say in the policies and legislation that affect them.
Since publishing our Participation strategy in 2021, we’ve been advocating for greater levels of participation in every aspect of decision making. People of all ages with lived experience of the justice system are telling us that they don’t just want to be listened to, but for those in charge of making the decisions to act on what they’re hearing, and to involve them in change.
“The children of Scotland are getting the best opportunity to heal and grow within a rights-respecting environment and a team of dedicated individuals shaping change for their future. My experience was not of this when I was a child and I truly believe that CYCJ is shaping that change” (young person)
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Our 2022 Participation Issue shares how we’ve been working with children and young people to make participation a reality in every setting across Glasgow and Scotland. These are just some examples of the projects, campaigns and research that are achieving this goal.
Just the Right Space
“Having the opportunity to share my ideas right from the start meant I felt fully involved and included, and reassured that I wasn’t just being asked my views as part of a box ticking exercise” (Paul, young person)
‘Just the Right Space’ was co-created and produced with young people who have lived experience of the justice and care systems. This website offers information and advice about the criminal justice system and what to expect, children’s rights, stories shared by those with experience of the justice and care systems, and places/groups that can offer further support. ‘Just…Space’ is a work in progress, and CYCJ welcomes ideas for content.
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Reimagining Justice ‘Reimagining Justice with Children and Young People: Building Rights Respecting Services Together’ is an innovative approach that supports the design of rights-based services for, and with, children and young people on the cusp of, or in conflict with the law.
Those who use the services (including children and young people) are placed at the heart of the ‘Reimagining Justice’ design process, working alongside practitioners and managers.
“(We) now have a really good vision on how we respond to the needs of children in conflict with the law and now it’s about making that vision a reality” (local authority manager)
Using a model grounded in the 7 principles of the Scottish Approach to Service Design (SAtSD), CYCJ works closely with organisations and local authorities, and those who use the services, throughout the three-phase process. ‘Reimagining Justice’ is successfully underway with several local authorities; please contact cycj@strath.ac.uk if you’d like to find out more.
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Digital criminal justice provision in a pandemic – The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions resulted in a shift towards digital criminal justice social work provision. To help better understand this, CYCJ undertook research commissioned by Glasgow City Council, who received funding from the Scottish Government to develop and trial digital approaches to criminal justice provision.
The resulting report focused exclusively on digital criminal justice provision delivered in Glasgow by Street Cones, Nemo Arts and Sacro. It highlighted the challenges, opportunities and evaluated the effectiveness of this approach, helping the Council and third sector service providers gain a deeper understanding and confidence in using digital methods and in finding the best way of working together with justice service users.
“…you know what it’s like you’ve got a lot of people who’ve got addictions and whatever, they don’t want to get out of their beds or go travelling to places to pick up spots, or whatever you need to do, but now you just get up and go on your computer or phone or whatever you have to do it on”
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Building the Bairns’ Hoose – CYCJ is supporting Scotland’s Bairns’ Hoose, a model that supports a child-centred response to health and justice for victims or witnesses of serious crime and abuse. Working with CYCJ’s participation team and funded by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, children and young people were consulted on the draft standards for the Bairns’ Hoose, which are now out for consultation.
They also helped produce ‘Hear Us, Make Changes’, a report sharing their views on how the Bairns’ Hoose can be as helpful as possible for children in Scotland who have been victims of harm, as well as children under 12 whose actions might have caused harm.
“There should be someone who understands you, and you should be able to get things off your chest”
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Supporting young people to have their say – ensuring that children and young people have their say in decisions affecting them is really important to us, and we do everything we can to make this happen. In 2022, we published a guide created in collaboration with young people who have had contact with justice systems, and those with their own experiences with care and justice, who have gone through the various stages of the Whole System Approach (WSA).
Working alongside Staf (Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum), three young people led the creation of this guide, which highlights some of the important information that children and young people should be aware of when coming into contact with the justice system.
For the recent review of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), Scotland’s policy that supports families by making sure children and young people can receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people, we made sure over 100 children were consulted, through online surveys and focus groups with children in secure care.
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Get in touch – If you’re feeling inspired by the work CYCJ is doing, please get in touch at cycj@strath.ac.uk to start a conversation. Follow @CYCJScotland on Twitter.
