News story

The evolving response to ethnic disproportionality in youth justice

Keith Fraser, Chair of the YJB, highlights the systemic biases that fuel the over-representation of Black and Mixed ethnicity children in the youth justice system. He explores the structural reform and culturally sensitive interventions that can ensure fairness and equity within the system.

From:
Youth Justice Board for England and Wales
Published
19 December 2025

Our understanding of ethnic disproportionality in the youth justice system has deepened over the past few years. 

While earlier thinking focused heavily on the numbers - which remain critical - our lens continues to widen to consider the structural and institutional factors that create and sustain inequality. This broadening considers both the formal system and the factors ‘prior’ to the system. This is crucial because, despite our concerted activity to shine a light on this issue, Black and Mixed ethnicity continue to be over-represented at almost every stage in the youth justice system. 

Disparities linked to race often begin earlier in a child’s life and continue to shape results throughout the system: 

  • Persistent poverty: In 2022 21% of Black children and 32% of Asian children lived in persistent low-income households compared with 17% of White children (after housing costs). 

  • Special educational needs (SEN) recognition: 9.1% of Asian children, 11.7% of Black children, and 13.6% of Mixed ethnicity children have a recognised SEN, compared to 15.4% of white children.  

  • School exclusions: Black Caribbean pupils in England face permanent school exclusion rates three times higher than White British pupils. 

  • Child death rate: The child death rate for Black children is 55.4 per 100,000—more than double the rate for White British children (22.9 per 100,000) 

We must continue to respond to any evidence that the youth justice system isn’t equitable for all children but, as these statistics show, we must also strengthen partnership working. This must happen at a local authority and national level and involve a range of agencies such as education, health and housing as well as the police and justice system.  

Analysing potential areas of progress is just as important. In our youth justice statistics, we have seen small reductions for Black children in the use of remand, reoffending rates and numbers in custody over the last ten years. Whereas the proportion of children with Mixed ethnicity in custody has doubled over the past decade. Why is this happening? This is something we must understand and, more importantly, work together to prevent it. 

Adultification in action 

Within the system, Black children are all too often seen as older, less innocent, and less vulnerable than their peers. This is a practice known as ‘adultification’ and we are seeing growing evidence of its prevalence in the system. It is surfacing throughout the system, from assessments and reports through to decisions and outcomes. For example, in our independently commissioned research on pre-sentence reports, we discovered that the language used in these reports differed depending on the child’s ethnicity. Black children tended to be referred to with the more formal language you would expect to find in adult courts. This could potentially minimise their vulnerability or circumstances, placing more emphasis on their choices and maturity to resist, which is a hallmark of adultification bias.  

At the YJB, we continue to use our influence to press the system to uncover and dismantle any biases that shape decisions and outcomes. This directly aligns with the Child First evidence base and decision-making framework, ensuring every intervention is developmentally informed and prioritises the child’s best interests. 

The most potent evidence of this bias is found in risk assessments. Analysis shows that practitioner assessments of the likelihood of reoffending are inflated for Black children by 37.2 percentage points. That is almost double that of White children and shows that Black children are considered a higher ‘risk’. This is adultification in action. More information on adultification as well as other anti-racism resources are on the Youth Justice Resource Hub 

Disparity in remand 

Even when we control for demographic characteristics, offence profile, and history, significant disproportionality persists in critical areas. Nowhere is this more apparent and urgent than in remand. 

Black and Mixed ethnicity children are more likely than White children to receive a custodial remand outcome. For Black children, this likelihood remains +7 percentage points higher, even after accounting for offence severity. 

This bias makes Black children appear less favourable for community-based options. Compounding this, a lack of suitable accommodation for children on bail often results in custodial remand by default. 

This unnecessary detention is actively detrimental. In the year ending March 2024, 62% of children remanded in custody did not go on to be sentenced to remain there. Higher remand rates for Black and ethnic minority children actively disadvantage them more than their White peers, accelerating their contact with a system that should be acting as a safeguard. 

Structural reform and promising practice 

A key characteristic of our change of approach is our renewed focus on structural reform. This means recognising that persistent disproportionality is shaped by both individual practice as well as the policies, processes and system conditions. For example, how risk is assessed, custody is used or decisions are made about children. 

We have invested in community-based alternatives to custody addressing the urgent lack of suitable supported housing (as seen through the London Accommodation Pathfinder). We are also promoting co-production as a means to reshape the system. This means ensuring that the voices of children and families are central to the decision-making process, such as through action-planning roundtables with children and practitioners.  

Finally, we are sharing examples of effective practice where culturally sensitive and anti-racist programmes are delivering results. This includes funding the development of trauma-informed programmes that explicitly recognise and respond to racism and prejudice (such as our Addressing Ethnic Disparity pathfinder). 

I am excited by the tangible results I’m seeing across England and Wales. To give you a flavour of some of these fantastic projects:  

  • The Ether Programme (Wiper Youth) is addressing race and identity with ethnic minority boys and young men. To date, it has achieved an impressive 86% reduction in reoffending and 92% reported improved confidence/self-esteem. 

  • Kitchen Table Talks (First Class Foundation) is supporting the parents of children involved in the youth justice system, tailored to different cultures. It has led to an increase in parent well-being and confidence, reducing isolation and feelings of shame. 

  • Islington altered its pre-sentence reports to include statements on local over-representation data and adultification. Sentencers found the statements useful in decision-making, and Islington is reporting a reduction in the over-representation of Black and Mixed ethnicity children in remand and sentencing outcomes. 

We must also not underestimate the positive impact of sport and physical activity. The success of Levelling the Playing Field programme shows us that when we invest in children, particularly those from under-represented and marginalised communities, we see positive outcomes. Programmes like this demonstrate that it is possible to break down barriers, engage children in meaningful ways, and help them move towards brighter futures. 

Many other examples of promising practice are on the Youth Justice Resource Hub 

Our commitment 

Despite progress being made, it is too slow and Black and Mixed ethnicity children are still being failed by socioeconomic inequality, making them more likely to enter the youth justice system. This is systemic racism. 

The youth justice system has the potential to reduce, plateau, or accelerate that racial disparity for the children who come into it. We must actively choose to reduce it. Our evolving approach reflects a commitment to fairness, accountability, and a youth justice system that treats every child as a child and tackles the inequalities that have gone unchallenged for too long. 

Sources: 

Updates to this page

Published 19 December 2025