Fiona Atkins, Acting Director of Ashley Youth Detention Centre, shares how she fosters a supportive environment for both staff and young people in detention, advocating for their wellbeing and implementing trauma-informed practices. Her leadership style illustrates the power of incremental change in youth detention.

In out-of-home care, neurodiversity shapes how children respond. Jessica Wright advocates for neuroaffirming practices to address challenges faced by children with trauma-based responses and neurodivergent traits.

Current research shows that children who are "dual-involved" in both child protection and youth justice systems are prone to criminalisation when these systems don’t interact effectively. This system failure is known as systems abuse. Dr Claire Paterson-Smith, Dr Tatiana Corrales, and Dr Patricia McNamara presented their preliminary findings on their important, if troubling, research: The criminalisation of children in care in England/Wales, New South Wales and Victoria. Their research highlights the urgent need for positive systemic change, and what we can do in our day-to-day practice to move us in the right direction.