Girls in Youth Justice Advisory Board

The Girls in Youth Justice Advisory Board (GYJAB) purpose is to facilitate and promote continuous improvements within the youth justice system to improve girls’ experiences and outcomes.

Terms of Reference

Purpose

The youth justice system has historically been designed and structured primarily with boys in mind, as girls constitute a comparatively small segment of the overall cohort. Consequently, there has been limited strategic planning and gender-responsive services tailored to the needs of girls within the system. As a frequently overlooked yet highly vulnerable population, girls require targeted attention to address their distinct experiences and needs.

The Girls in Youth Justice Advisory Board (GYJAB) purpose is to highlight these issues and facilitate and promote continuous improvements within the youth justice system to improve girls’ experiences and outcomes.

The GYJAB’s primary initial focus will be on:

  • discussing the delivery of government commitments in response to the review of the placement of girls in custody
  • advocating for the experiences and needs of girls within the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) by providing insights regarding the challenges they face and identifying effective practices for their care and rehabilitation
  • sharing new research and knowledge regarding the youth justice system’s support to and supervision of girls in the community – particularly those with special educational needs (SEN), complex needs, experiences of school exclusion, and looked after status backgrounds – with the goal of informing and improving the youth justice system for the current and future generations of girls.

Membership

The GYJAB will consist of internal formal members and named independent advisors who will attend each board meeting.

Core membership as follows:

  • Chair: Jake Richards, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (MOJ)
  • Deputy Director, Youth Justice Policy Unit, Ministry of Justice
  • Executive Director, Youth Custody Service
  • Deputy Director, NHS England

Independent advisors:

  • Youth Justice Board member representative
  • National Children’s Bureau representative
  • Alliance for Youth Justice representative
  • Association of Youth Offending Team Managers representative
  • Lived Experience voices

To note, the independent advisors will not be remunerated.

Meetings

Minister Richards will chair the meeting and MoJ will provide the Secretariat.

The GYJAB will meet every 6 months. Where possible, the agenda and relevant papers will be circulated one week prior to the scheduled meeting.

Review arrangements

The Secretariat will formally review these terms of reference periodically to ensure the arrangements are effective. Any amendments will be discussed with the board members and independent advisors and agreed by the Chair.

Confidentiality

MoJ may share confidential information, data and ideas that are at an early stage of development. To encourage free and open discussions between the board members and independent advisors, information which is not already in the public domain must not be shared publicly or with third parties. Non-disclosure agreements may be arranged when deemed necessary.

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