Resettlement of Children after Custody: Improving Youth Justice Policy and Practice

Supporting children who are leaving custody (‘resettlement’) is a chronic problem across
England and Wales as both typical practice and reoffending outcomes have historically been
recognised by Inspectors as ‘shocking’. Professor Hazel’s research has raised policy awareness
of the issues, directly influenced government policy, driven practice improvements and informed
the standards by which resettlement support for children is judged. His research forms the basis
for a new cross-departmental national policy approach to resettlement, national standards for all
Youth Offending Teams and custodial institutions, the Youth Custody Service’s new theory of
change, inspection criteria and the curriculum for youth justice staff training to support
resettlement. Moreover, policymakers and practitioners are increasingly recognising the
usefulness of these research findings to guiding practice beyond resettlement, including for non-custodial sentences and for adult probation.

This case study was submitted to REF 2021. For more information and to download the full case study, click here.