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Introduction
For the last ten years, youth justice in England and Wales has undergone a significant transformation. The number of children entering custody has reached a record low, and the first-time entrants into the justice system have declined sharply (Beyond Youth Custody 2015-2024 updates)25. These developments demonstrate a progressive and rehabilitative approach to youth offending, but when we look more closely at this positive trend, there lies a troubling reality: youth homelessness is rising, and children who leave custody find themselves without safe or stable accommodation.
This gap between justice reform and social support reveals a systematic weakness that threatens the progress of falling custody rates. Early intervention, holistic support, and child-first approaches are needed now more than ever.
This article will show the profound impact that homelessness has on young people and the lack of meaningful action so far to manage this issue. I will also explore the priorities for effective early intervention and the basic rights of a child when they leave custody. This article aims to raise awareness and highlight that falling youth custody rates must be supported with viable housing stability for young people.
New data shows a rapid decline in the number of young people in custody
The Youth Justice Board’s 2024–2025 Annual Report highlights a drastic change when compared to the Beyond Youth Custody 2015.26 In the years 2024-25 the average number of children (aged 10–17) in custody fell to 430, marking a 3% decrease from the previous year and the lowest figure ever recorded. Likewise, the number of first-time entrants into the youth justice system dropped to just under 8,300, another record low. This indicates that fewer young people are entering the justice system and fewer still are receiving custodial sentences.
This trend seems encouraging, suggesting greater use of diversion schemes27, restorative practices28, and community-based measures29.
Restorative practices30, mainly restorative justice, enable all participants a way to have an active role and to take ownership of the process. The aim is to acknowledge the harm caused by the person who committed the crime and to meet the needs of the person/s who have been affected by their actions. These can be done, face-to-face, online, by letter and recorded videos or interviews. Restorative schemes also allow practitioners to have a broader range of language and behaviours. This broader toolkit enables them to engage with young people at different levels of their development. This way, they can be sensitive to certain approaches and not make presumptions or be judgmental. By doing this, they can then use it to help improve their relationships with children, young people and families, promoting a positive and sustainable change.31
Diversion schemes32 have the potential to reduce crime, cut costs as well and achieve better outcomes for children. Diversion schemes are created by your local youth justice services for young people to receive support. Completing a diversion scheme means that you will not receive a youth caution, you won’t go to court, and you will have no criminal record. These can include personal skills and training classes, family counselling sessions, and drug and alcohol courses. There is evidence to suggest that youth diversion schemes can reduce offending compared to the formal criminal justice processes, and they can be cost-effective. Diversion schemes could also prevent further offending, cut the costs of the expensive aspects of the courts, police, and prosecution. By relaxing this requirement of ‘admits responsibility’, as young people must admit that they had done something illegal, that they would otherwise go to custody for and even get a criminal record for, it could open the schemes to young people who are more mistrustful of the criminal justice system, as many young people would expect this to be another form of punishment, where as it helps with a young person’s development for their future.
Community-based measures33 include recreational and educational leisure-time activities; these can have a significant effect on young people’s development and well-being, as well as meeting the needs of young people in the area. Local authorities should put young people, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable young people, at the centre of their decision-making when considering a young person’s wellbeing, and how they could benefit from different schemes, such as sports clubs, community centres, after-school clubs, outdoor playgrounds and many more. This helps them to become an active member of society, improve their trust and tolerance and build their skills.
However, despite these encouraging signs, the youth justice data also exposes significant complexities. For example, 55% of first-time entrants received a court sentence, compared to 48% who received a youth caution—the first time in a decade that court sentences have overtaken cautions. Additionally, the average time from offence to court completion reached 225 days, the longest delay ever recorded34. These prolonged timelines can destabilise young people further, especially those already experiencing adversity at home or within their communities.
Even more concerning is that 62% of children remanded to custody did not go on to receive a custodial sentence. Of those, 28% were acquitted or had their cases dismissed, while 72% received a non-custodial outcome. This means that most children placed on remand, often the most vulnerable, are exposed to the harmful effects of custody unnecessarily.
Youth Homelessness Is Rising Among Custody Leavers
Custody figures may have fallen overall, but the number of young people experiencing homelessness has increased. Shelter (2025) found that 190,050 children are currently homeless in temporary accommodation, as of July 2025, which is a 12% increase in a year, and the ninth consecutive record since 202235. Alongside these broader figures, Centrepoint (2023) and Narco (2024-25), and the Ministry of Justice36 have reported that homelessness is disproportionately affecting children and young adults who have been involved in the criminal justice system.
Newly released data from the government, cited by Narco (2024-25) revealed that two-thirds of people leaving prison who are homeless reoffend within a year, showing a strong link between homelessness and reoffending. Too many young people experience homelessness after leaving custody. According to Centrepoint, young custody leavers are twice as likely to experience rough sleeping as those without experience of leaving the prison system.
Homelessness does not only refer to rough sleeping; it includes sofa surfing, temporary accommodation, unsafe environments, and returning to households where conflict, neglect, domestic abuse, and even exploitation may have triggered the young person’s offending in the first place. This structural instability leaves young people feeling abandoned when they need guidance and stability the most. (Children and Youth Service Review 2025)37
Research from Beyond Youth Custody (2015 and 2024 updates) showed that unstable or insecure housing is one of the biggest predictors of reoffending38. Without a safe place to live, young people struggle to access important resources such as education and employment, healthcare, support services and positive relationships, demonstrating the importance of stable accommodation for a successful resettlement after leaving custody.
Not only this, but because of the lack of guidance given, young people may resort to crime because of how unsafe they feel and how they are struggling financially. In the Children and Youth Service Review (2025)39, five studies had found that gang involvement was a risk factor for homelessness and offending. Harding (2019)40 found that young people accepted accommodation from gangs in exchange for criminal activity.
The Main Factors Influencing Homelessness in Young People
The extent of the homelessness crisis shows how justice reform has outpaced social support. Youth justice policies increasingly emphasise a child-first approach. Which prioritises developmental needs, trauma-informed practice, and rehabilitation over punishment. The housing and social care systems have not reformed at the same pace; because of this, fewer children enter custody, but they still struggle to access safe accommodation. (Loughborough University 2021)41
In addition, there have been long-term cuts to local authority services42. The resultant reductions in youth services, social care capacity, and early intervention teams have weakened the support networks that young people have relied upon in the past. Without a stable family or community support many may drift into homelessness after release.
Research from Centrepoint43, which interviewed custody leavers aged 18-25 who became homeless, found that housing arrangements for custody leavers were often rushed or insecure. Centrepoint emphasised that young people need a resettlement plan to make sure their housing needs are met. The disruptions reported during transfers from custody were a result of inefficient joint workings between prisons, Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC), and the National Probation Service (NPS). However, the use of CRC’s came to an end in June 2021, after time lags were discovered in the proven reoffending measures and is now solely monitored by the probation service, and so the impact of this change on effective joint working may not yet be known.44 Pre- and post-release preparation is often delayed due to practitioners’ workload and insufficient resources, creating barriers to young people receiving meaningful support.
Those young people who are in custody for short periods at a time, or those who are recalled to custody, may not be able to engage with housing and post-release planning, leading to a risk of poor housing outcomes, increasing the risk of reoffending upon release.
As of August 2023, HM Prison and Probation Service45 has increased the subsistence payment, which eligible prisoners receive on release from custody, from £46 to £89.52. However, this remains insufficient, especially with the cost-of-living crisis.
Even though custody rates are falling, the reoffending rate rose to 32.5% in the most recent reporting year, as stated by the Youth Justice Board’s 2024–2025 report46. It is the first time that both the number of reoffences and the number of children who reoffended increased. Homelessness is a key driver, as without housing, stability becomes almost impossible, and the likelihood of returning to offending behaviour increases sharply.
The Youth Justice System cannot effectively reduce reoffending if it does not address homelessness. No amount of rehabilitation or intervention can succeed if a child has no safe place to sleep.
Early intervention must include:
• Stable housing solutions before and after custody
• Family support works to reduce breakdowns and prevent homelessness,
• Trauma-informed mental health and wellbeing services,
• Education engagement programmes, especially for excluded or at-risk young people,
• Community mentoring and trusted adults,
• Support for transitions (from custody to community, from school to employment),
• Youth services that build resilience, identity, and belonging
Child First research emphasises that children should be treated as children first and offenders second. This means prioritising their welfare, development, rights, and long-term outcomes.47
Conclusion: Progress in Custody Means Nothing Without Housing
Declining custody numbers represent real progress and are the result of reforms that treat children more fairly and recognise the harms of incarceration. But without stable housing, many young people still remain at risk of falling through the cracks. Youth homelessness is rising, and more young people are reoffending because many lack the structured support they need to have a stable life.
If the government, local authorities, and youth justice services want to turn falling custody numbers into genuine long-term success, they must prioritise early intervention, strengthen resettlement planning, and guarantee safe, secure accommodation as a basic right for every single child that leaves custody.
Reducing youth crime cannot and will not happen without tackling youth homelessness. When young people leave custody only to find themselves “locked out” of stable housing, the system has simply shifted the problem at hand, not solved it.
Further Reading
[25] Dr Tim Bateman, Beyond Youth Custody, ‘Resettlement of Young People Leaving Custody’<https://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/wp-content/uploads/Resettlement-of-young-people-leaving-custody-lessons-from-the-literature-March-2015.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[26] Dr Tim Bateman, Beyond Youth Custody, ‘Resettlement of Young People Leaving Custody’<https://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/wp-content/uploads/Resettlement-of-young-people-leaving-custody-lessons-from-the-literature-March-2015.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[27] HM Inspectorate of Probation, Youth justice- specific types of delivery ‘Diversion’ (27th October 2023) https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/our-research/evidence-base-youth-justice/specific-types-of-delivery/diversion/
[28] Ministry of Justice, Restorative Practice (incorporating Restorative Justice Services) Policy Framework (6th February 2023) <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e12cb3e90e076264193957/restorative-practice-incorporating-restorative-justice-services-policy-framework.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[29] Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Statutory guidance for local authorities on services to improve young people’s well-being, (27th September 2023)<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities-youth-provision/statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-services-to-improve-young-peoples-well-being> accessed 10th December 2025
[30] Ministry of Justice, Restorative Practice (incorporating Restorative Justice Services) Policy Framework (6th February 2023) <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e12cb3e90e076264193957/restorative-practice-incorporating-restorative-justice-services-policy-framework.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[31] Leeds City Council, One minute guide: Restorative practice <https://www.leeds.gov.uk/one-minute-guides/restorative-practice> accessed 10th December 2025
[32] HM Inspectorate of Probation, Youth justice- specific types of delivery ‘Diversion’ (27th October 2023) https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/our-research/evidence-base-youth-justice/specific-types-of-delivery/diversion/
[33] Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Statutory guidance for local authorities on services to improve young people’s well-being, (27th September 2023)<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities-youth-provision/statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-services-to-improve-young-peoples-well-being> accessed 10th December 2025
[34] Youth Justice Board, ‘Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f0ba80e8e4040c38a3cf4f/Youth_Justice_Board_Annual_Report_and_Accounts__2024_to_2025.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[35] Shelter, Strategic Plan 2025-29 <https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do/our_strategy/strategic_plan_2025-29> accessed 10th December 2025
[36] Narco, Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2025 <https://nacro.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/14130849/Nacro-Annual-Report-24-25-FINAL.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[37] Youth Justice Board, ‘Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f0ba80e8e4040c38a3cf4f/Youth_Justice_Board_Annual_Report_and_Accounts__2024_to_2025.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[38] Youth Justice Board, ‘Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f0ba80e8e4040c38a3cf4f/Youth_Justice_Board_Annual_Report_and_Accounts__2024_to_2025.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[39] Tara Self, Children and Youth Services Review, The relationships between youth homelessness and offending: A systematic review of the UK literature <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924006042#bb0095> accessed 10th December 2025
[40] Billy Harding, Centrepoint, Escaping the Trap (Centrepoint 2019) <https://centrepoint.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/escaping-the-trap.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[41] S Case, A Browning, Child First Justice: the research evidence-base{Full Report 2020}<https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/report/Child_First_Justice_the_research_evidence-base_Full_report_/14152040?file=26748341> accessed 10th December 2025
[42] Children’s Society Stopping the spiral (July 2022)<https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-07/Stopping_the_spiral_Childrens_Services_Funding_Alliance.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[43] C Drummond, A Gill, Policy Report Centrepoint June 2018 <https://centrepoint.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/centrepoint-custody-leavers-report.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[44] Ministry of Justice, Official statistics, final proven reoffending statistics for Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service, July to September 2020, (28th July 2025) <https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/payment-by-results-statistics-july-to-september-2021/final-proven-reoffending-statistics-for-community-rehabilitation-companies-and-the-national-probation-service-july-to-september-2020#fn:1> accessed 10th December 2025
[45] HM Prison Probation Service, Discharge, November 2024 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67483b3e6f60e77679723929/2024_11_04_PSI-72-2011-discharge_PPP-PF_revisions.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[46] Youth Justice Board, ‘Annual Report & Accounts 2024/25 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f0ba80e8e4040c38a3cf4f/Youth_Justice_Board_Annual_Report_and_Accounts__2024_to_2025.pdf> accessed 10th December 2025
[47] S Case, A Browning, Child First Justice: the research evidence-base {Full Report 2020}<https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/report/Child_First_Justice_the_research_evidence-base_Full_report_/14152040?file=26748341> accessed 10th December 2025
