The role of the Appropriate Adult was established to protect the rights of suspects considered 'vulnerable' due to a number of miscarriages of justice during the 1970s.Appropriate Adult services are now a legal requirement in England and Wales for detained adults with mental health issues, learning disabilities or difficulties who have been detained in police custody. The aim of this project was to evaluate the extent and involvement of disabled adults who are or have been in police custody. The study concludes by suggesting the application of a social model approach within police custody, to meet the needs of service users and to avoid any miscarriages of justice.  Appropriate Adult services are now a legal requirement in England and Wales for adults detained in police custody who have mental health issues, learning disabilities or difficulties  The research explores the role of Appropriate Adult schemes across England and Wales in protecting the rights of disabled people in custody.  This study examines whether disabled people's voices are embraced in Appropriate Adult Schemes to improve services and to remove disabling barriers. This study discovered that service user voices were missing from every aspect of Appropriate Adult service provision. The findings suggest that in order to develop an effective criminal justice service for disabled people in custody, service user voices must be incorporated to develop a service which protects the rights of disabled people.

The concept of participation is now widely accepted in healthcare and social services, but is less apparent in the delivery of services for vulnerable people who encounter the Criminal Justice System and its associated agencies (Buck et al, 2020).  This article considers the extent to which children and ‘vulnerable’ adults who have been detained in police custody are currently able to actively participate in the design and delivery of Appropriate Adult Schemes.  This paper draws together responses from 43 services in England and Wales concerning levels of service user engagement to ascertain the current level of participation, and to make recommendations for the future.  The paper applies Forbat, et al.'s (2009) models of service user involvement to conceptualise ideological drivers which underpin the Appropriate Adult Scheme's commitment to involvement.  The data reveal that while there is a genuine desire to improve service user participation, that institutional, financial, and attitudinal barriers mean that participation either does not occur or is at a very cursory level.