Time for Change Acquired Brain Injury and Young Adults involved in the Criminal Justice System in England
By Gemma Buckland
Brain injury is known to be a major factor in impacting maturational development and affecting outcomes for young adults. As Barrow Cadbury Trust’s evidence has carefully documented, neuroscientific research identifies that the typical adult male brain is not fully formed until at least their mid-20s. Over the last three years, since the then Secretary of State for Justice commissioned a review, there has been increased awareness of the prevalence of neurodiverse conditions and their impact on policy and practice in the criminal justice system (CJS). UKABIF received support from Barrow Cadbury Trust under the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) programme to review what policies and practices are in place for young adults (aged 17-25 years) which recognise both Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and maturity. The review also considered what needs to happen to ensure that practice for this cohort is as effective as possible taking into account available resources and policy priorities. The project has included: ■ Conducting research involving Freedom of Information (FoI) requests which highlighted the limitations of the existing response by the police and liaison and diversion services to young adults with brain injury in terms of awareness of both ABI and maturity ■ Disseminating the results at a national and an international conference ■ Establishing evaluation sites for The Disabilities Trust (now Brainkind) Ask, Understand, Adapt programme (online training modules on ABI), evaluation in four prisons holding young adults, designing evaluation tools and commencing the evaluation. The evaluation was part of an agreement that enabled The Disabilities Trust to make available to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) the training which had been commissioned by National Health Service (NHS) England to all people with a justice.gov.uk email address ■ Co-creating with young adults a leaflet for criminal justice agencies working with young adults with brain injury to signpost them to sources of support ■ Engaging with NHS England to ensure that guidance for Community Sentence Treatment Requirements and Reconnect included content on ABI ■ Developing a policy levers matrix to illustrate the range of touchpoints with the CJS where there is potential to better support young adults with ABI and an accompanying chart with examples of existing initiatives. We conclude that there is significant scope for further work by the T2A Alliance, UKABIF and other members of the ABI Justice Network to continue to promote a distinct approach to young adults with ABI. While there is some recognition of ABI and awareness is rising, how ABI affects the maturity of young adults is not yet considered in the early stages of the CJS (in police custody suites and liaison and diversion schemes). For example, data held in police custody suites and by liaison and diversion services is not yet strong enough to understand the needs of this important cohort or the extent to which they are met. There are also currently not many support pathways specifically for people with ABI, let alone those which are specifically for young adults. This report is for commissioners, senior leaders and practitioners working in criminal justice, health and social care with young adults who are in contact with the CJS.
London: www.ukabif.org.uk