How to become an AA

Appropriate adult (AA) schemes are organised and funded locally.

NAAN does not recruit or provide appropriate adults (find out what we do here).

On this page we hope to encourage you to consider becoming an AA, answer some of your questions and help you to connect with local schemes.

If you are looking for information about being an appropriate adult for your child or other family member, please see our information for family and friends.

What are the entry requirements?

Appropriate adults come from all walks of life, genders, ages and ethnicties. It is critical that AA schemes reflect the communities they serve and equality and diversity is critical to our National Standards.

No prior experience or qualification is required for the appropriate adult role, although they can often be helpful.

Each scheme will have its own recruitment guidelines but you will need to:

be able to act with independence from the police (schemes will take into account your attitudes, motivations and any other roles you may hold);
undertake training in the AA role;
be prepared to undertake a criminal record (DBS) check at either the standard or enhanced level. However, a criminal record will not necessarily act as an automatic bar in any scheme operating under the National Standards.

"Our volunteers come from all walks of life to make up a highly skilled, committed and friendly team routinely giving their time and effort, often in stressful and complicated situations. Needless to say, without them the project would not run."

AA Scheme Co-ordinator

Are appropriate adults paid or volunteers?

It is up to local areas to decide how their services will be delivered.

This might involve appropriate adults who are employees, sessional workers or volunteers - or a mixture.

This means that not all appropriate adult schemes use volunteers so you may not find volunteering opportunities in your local authority area.

If the volunteering element is important to you, you could consider other local authority areas if you can travel to them easily.

What is being an appropriate adult like?

The videos below were produced by NAAN members.

Watch them to hear what it is like to be an appropriate adult from the people who already do the role.

Nick

"Above all for me it's the opportunity to help someone from whatever walk of life in an hour of need. No one wants to find themselves in custody least of all a vulnerable person and the ability to reassure help protect their interests it's just so rewarding"

Steven

"I assist and support juveniles or vulnerable adults...you need someone that's independent just to safeguard your rights while in the police station and that is to check to make sure the police are doing their job"

Megan

"You're basically there to make sure that they're treated fairly and all their rights are upheld and you just go through the process with them"

Sarah

"I enjoy helping people and meeting them and I'm interested in the criminal justice system. Any small thing I can do to make someone's experience better is worth the training and the time"

Leeds

"At this point these young people haven't been charged. We don't know if they've done whatever it is they're supposed to have done or not. So it's just someone to be with them"

Annie

"It's the first volunteering role I've had where I actually think I'm making a difference"

How does volunteering as an appropriate adult work ?

Many appropriate adults are volunteers.

By definition, volunteers cannot be paid, though there can be some benefits such as timebanking.

You should expect a scheme to pay your expenses (e.g. travel and food) on production of a valid receipt and according to local policies.

When you volunteer to do something, you don't work under a contract, so you don’t have the same rights as an employee or worker. Of course, you also don't have the same legal committments. Though there is no contract, schemes may provide a volunteer agreement that explains: -

the supervision and support you will receive
the training you will get
your coverage under their insurance
the health and safety policy
the expenses policy

It may also set out what the scheme's expectations are of you. This agreement isn’t compulsory. It simply explains what you can expect from the organisation you’re volunteering and vice versa. It doesn’t form a contract between you and the organisation.

You can find out general information about volunteering from Gov.uk and NCVO.

How volunteering led this student to a career in the criminal justice sector

Types of appropriate adult work

Paid appropriate adults include people who are:

sessional workers
sole-traders
employees.

Pay rates

There are no national pay rates for appropriate adults. Rates of pay can vary between:

areas of the country
organisations
time of day.

In January 2025, pay rates were typically around £12-15 per hour. Vacancies may be advertised in local job centres, in the local press, on the organisation’s own website or on general employment websites such as Jobcentre Plus.

Sessional and sole-traders

These approaches are very flexible on both sides - and usually come with no guarantee of minimum hours. Examples of NAAN member organisations that use a sessional model include Child Action North West and The Appropriate Adult Service; while Appropriate Adults UK uses the the sole-trader model.

Employment

Some people act as appropriate adults as part of their wider job, Examples include local authority social workers and youth offending team staff. Their salary will depend on their wider role.

As some appropriate adult schemes operate using volunteers there may not be paid opportunities in your local authority area. You may wish to consider other local authority areas if you can travel to them easily.

Will I receive training?

If accepted as an appropriate adult, training will be provided by the scheme at their cost.

You may have to wait until a new cycle of training commences before you can start. A minimum of 20 hours training is recommended by NAAN. As part of your training you should visit a custody suite, attend an interview to watch a trained AA in role and be shadowed by an experienced AA or trainer when you undertake your first callout.

AA training varies depending on the organisation that provides the scheme. However:

You can find out what your training should cover by looking at the training section of the National Standards.
Appropriate adult schemes are increasingly adopting the National Training Course.

Ask what training is provided when you contact an AA scheme.

“I joined the Appropriate Adult project because I wanted to do some volunteering and this seemed appealing and rewarding, while also being a support for vulnerable people. I have met some great people and learned a lot from the training.”

Volunteer AA

How do I find an AA scheme?

NAAN members

Full members of NAAN provide appropropriate adult services and many of them will be recruiting. You can see the list on our member page, and follow the links to their website.

Schemes may also advertise in local volunteer centres, job centres or the local press.

Other contacts

Youth offending teams (YOTs) are legally responsible for directly providing AAs for children or funding a local scheme to do so. If your area is not covered by our map, you may wish to contact your local YOT directly. The contact details for all YOTs are available here.

Sadly, nobody has a legal duty to provide AAs for mentally vulnerable adults. This is something we are encouraging government to change. However, at the moment it may be that there is no organised scheme in your area for adults.

"I find being an appropriate adult very interesting and rewarding and never come away from a shift without having learnt something, not only about the role at the police station but also about people - the detainees that I try to help, and the Police as individuals and as a Force.”

Volunteer AA