CYCJ’s National Youth Justice conference took place in Stirling on June 11 and 12, 2025 and the theme was ‘Childhood, Safeguarding and the Children’s Hearings System’.
Our speakers explored complex practice issues such as Contextual Safeguarding and Child Criminal Exploitation. With significant reforms to the Children’s Hearings System already underway, they addressed some of the challenges and opportunities when it comes to supporting children in conflict with the law.
Speakers included:
Day 1:
- Professor Carlene Firmin, Professor of Social Work, Durham University
- Nicole Savage, Senior Officer, North Lanarkshire Council
- Stuart Allardyce, Director Lucy Faithfull Foundation Scotland / Chair of NOTA
- Elliot Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Hearings Scotland
- Neil Hunter, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration
- Andrew Gillies, Senior Education and Families Manager, North Lanarkshire
Day 2:
- Dr Grace Robinson, Founder and Director of Blackbox Research and Consultancy
- Donna McEwan, Practice Development Advisor, The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ)
- DI Craig Thomson, Risk & Concern Unit Manager, Public Protection Unit, Police Scotland
- Ross Gibson, Practice Development Advisor, CYCJ
- Orielle Taylor, Senior Development Officer, Youthlink Scotland
- Pamela Morrison, Practice Development Advisor, CYCJ
Please find here the programme of the National Youth Justice Conference 2025 – Programme
To read full bios from our speakers, workshop descriptions and more, read our conference padlet by clicking here.
This conference was the first to host a satellite session of the World Congress on Justice with Children. This session featured insights directly from the 5th World Congress on Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Children in Child Justice Systems, followed by an engaging panel discussion.
Please email cycj@strath.ac.uk for more information.