Lessons Learned in Meaningful Collaboration with Justice Involved Young Adults

Justice-involved young adults represent the most excluded, stigmatized, and traumatized group amongst their peers and are considered an especially hard-to-reach and hidden population (Case & Haines, 2015; Skinner-Osei et al., 2019). Beresford (2013) highlights how those who face barriers to their involvement in wider society are also more likely to be excluded from participatory arrangements in society. This brief report shares key lessons from a collaborative project between justice-involved young adults and undergraduate social work students, culminating in them collectively producing a learning resource (DVD) articulating the justice-involved young adults’ experiences and needs from professional services.