Supporting Transitions

Catch22 publishes the findings of a six month research project, which examines how services delivering a distinct ‘young adult approach’ impact on rates of offending and desistance amongst offenders aged 18 to 24-years-old.

Young adults aged 18 to 24-years-old represent less than 10% of population but make up almost third of all offenders found guilty or cautioned for indictable offences; more than a third of those starting a community order or suspended sentence order and almost third of those sentenced to prison each year.

The research, commissioned by the Barrow Cadbury Trust (BCT), followed the lives of 36 young adult offenders who were receiving support from three Transition to Adulthood (T2A) pilot projects funded by the BCT in Birmingham, London and West Mercia.

The results are very encouraging, finding:

• only three young people were reconvicted in this time
• employment rates trebled
• NEET (not in education, employment or training) levels halved.

It was concluded that for many young adults of the young adults that were interviewed, the T2A workers were providing critical support on what was a complex journey, and without them outcomes are likely to have been very different. The findings will make interesting reading for commissioners, practitioners and policy makers alike.

Download a copy of the executive summary of Supporting Transitions (pdf).

Download the full report (pdf).

Catch22 is a founding member of the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance and has produced three policy reports on behalf of the Alliance, Universities of Crime, A New Start and the Young Adult Manifesto.