New Government guidance on children found with knives: implications for Youth Justice Services

Last week, the Government published guidance on what Police, Youth Justice Services (YJSs) and other agencies should do when a child is found in possession of a knife.  

The guidance emphasises the importance of timely intervention for children – a key tenant of YEF’s Diversion Practice Guidance.  

The Government guidance also sets out that YJSs should make use of the YEF Toolkit, stating that ‘Interventions should be well-evidenced to be effective in tackling the root causes of offending, such as behavioural therapy and mentoring, rather than interventions for which there is no evidence of efficacy, such as knife crime education or awareness courses.’ 

What should Youth Justice Services do when a child is found with a knife?

Well, the Toolkit is a repository of the best bets of what type of intervention may be most effective to reduce violence. However, YJS’s first step when a child is referred by the Police for an out of court intervention is to complete an assessment tool named PDAT (Prevention and Diversion Assessment Tool). These assessments should bring together:

• the views of the child
• the relevant adults in their life, from family, professionals
• the victim of the crime

This process helps practitioners understand why that child has become involved in offending behaviour and how best to support them.

The new guidance places significant emphasis on addressing the ‘root causes’ of offending behaviour. Doing this well requires considerable skill from YJS practitioners. Practitioners must be able to: 

• take the time to build a trusting relationship with the child — one in which they feel safe, heard, and able to share their lived experience. This can be very difficult as evident in the recent episode of Safe. The anonymous interviewee, a young person who was criminal exploited as a child, details how professionals were unable to understand the language he used, meaning it was harder to get the appropriate support.
• identify wider needs; for example, a Youth Justice Board report identified that of the children sentenced in England and Wales between 2019-20, practitioners deemed that:  
  • 76% had substance misuse needs  
  • 72% had mental health needs  
  • 71% had speech, language and communication needs 
• understand the child’s family and community context. In our recent research on adverse and positive childhood experiences, the link between childhood trauma and entry into the youth justice system was illustrated with the study finding that having six or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) increased the risk of assault perpetration by 45%, weapon involvement by 150% and gang involvement by 154%.  
• support the child to have their basic needs met (for example, stable housing). 

Applying evidence-informed interventions in practice

Once this initial assessment work is complete, the next steps naturally depend on the individual child and their circumstances. 

From my own experience of working in the youth justice system over the past decade, I have seen how varied those needs can be. For example, a child who carries a knife because they fear violence in their community and who has previously witnessed violence at home may experience significant anxiety and hyper-vigilance. That same child, however, might be a confident public speaker and skilled at building relationships with peers from different backgrounds. For this child, the priority is likely to be addressing how they are currently feeling by having access to trauma-specific therapy, offering a platform to share their experiences with the police to help inform local problem-solving plans, and supporting them to attend a local youth club to connect with other young people. 

Another child may have very few supportive adults around them, be experiencing conflict at home, and also be a talented footballer. In these circumstances, practitioners may facilitate access to Functional Family Therapy to support with familial conflict and help them engage with a local Sports Programme, which can then be used to hook the child to engage with a mentor who they can meet weekly for at least six months.  

In summary, tailoring interventions to each child and their strengths is essential, and the YEF Toolkit provides an evidence base to support effective decision making. Each strand within the YEF Toolkit includes guidance on how to implement interventions well, helping practitioners make informed decisions.   

Why evidence-informed responses to knife possession matter

Reflecting again on my own practice, I have previously delivered ‘knife crime awareness’ sessions that used graphic images. At the time, it felt as though this approach resonated with the children. I now understand that this may have increased their anxiety about becoming a victim of violence — and in turn strengthened their belief that carrying a weapon was a necessary form of protection. It is a privilege to work directly with children and families. Robust evaluation of what works — and what does not — is vital to avoid repeating past mistakes and to ensure that support offered is as effective as possible. 

The new government guidance sets out clear expectations for how agencies should respond when a child is found in possession of a knife —an important and welcome development. The challenge now lies in ensuring that practitioners and services can deliver interventions that are both effective and evidence‑informed, which, as outlined above, is no simple task.