Peer Power Youth · 2021
This report investigates the extent and nature of participatory and co-creative practices across Youth Justice Services (YJS) in England and Wales, drawing on a survey of 75 YJS and a series of Deep Dive sessions with practitioners, managers, and children. Key findings show that while most YJS use participatory approaches at the individual level, strategic co-creation is rare, definitions of co-creation are widely misunderstood, and fewer than one in five services have a resourced participation lead. The report makes practical recommendations for YJS around relationship-building, strengths-based approaches, incentivising children's involvement, and embedding a whole-service culture of co-production, supported by a resource pack developed with young people with lived experience of the justice system.