Clare Hughes, our Criminal Justice Manager, looks ahead to our 20th annual criminal justice conference later this month, considering how things have changed and what still needs to happen.

This year will be our 20th annual autism, learning disability and criminal justice conference. It takes place online on 23 September and we’ll be hearing from a range of experts, including professionals and autistic people with first-hand experience of the system. 

Can’t attend on 23 September? We have on-demand sessions available that you can watch at a time that suits you. 

I’ve led the National Autistic Society’s work trying to improve outcomes for autistic people in the criminal justice system for over 8 years. There are around 700,000 autistic people in the UK, and the vast majority won’t come into contact with the system. But those who do can have incredibly traumatic experiences, particularly if they’re undiagnosed, misunderstood or their support needs go unrecognised and unmet.

In recent years, I’ve started to see some real progress. There are now dedicated professionals across policing, the courts, prison and probation recognising the additional challenges autistic people can face and are committed to making change. We’ve seen the first prisons and probation service gain autism accreditation, with others working towards it, our Police guide has been very well received and the National Police Autism Association now have at least one co-ordinator in every force and there are a number of resources to assist those working with autistic people in court, such as the Advocate’s Gateway’s toolkit on questioning autistic people.

This year’s conference

This year’s conference aims to facilitate discussions around providing appropriate and timely support, prevention and early intervention and evidence-based approaches. Furthermore, a representative of HM Inspectorate of Prisons who will be presenting findings from their recent report, supported by the Inspectorates of Probation, Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, into ‘Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System’ in England and Wales. A member of KeyRing’s Working for Justice group will also be talking about the views gained from autistic people and people with learning disabilities as part of the review.

Similar to our findings of autistic people’s experience of the justice system gathered for The Autism Act: 10 Years On, this report also found major failings. “One of the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) own equality, diversity and inclusion objectives is ‘Fair treatment, fair outcomes and equal access for all our service users’. This is manifestly not being achieved for all neurodivergent people.”

There were a series of important recommendations to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. These include the need for better screening and identification, proactive, joint work to understand and meet the needs of people and a mandatory training programme for all frontline staff.6 6

The autism strategy for England was also published on the 21 July. There is a chapter of the strategy entitled, ‘Improving Support within the Criminal and Youth Justice Systems’. Here is an overview of the five things you need to know about the Government’s new autism strategy for England.

Find out more about our autism, learning disability and criminal justice conference and book tickets here: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/professional-development/training-and-conferences/criminal-justice-conference/programme

Further information

Find out more about how to make the criminal justice system better for autistic people and their families, whether you’re autistic, a family member or a professional working in the system: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice