This article provides an overview of a three-year research project undertaken in fulfilment of the PhD Law Programme in University College Dublin and co-funded by the Irish Research Council and the Probation Service. As this cofunded programme is part of a wider initiative that links the researcher with workplace experience, the author has dual status as an employee of Deonach and as a PhD candidate. The aim of the research is to identify the needs of young adults as they transition from Youth Justice services and agencies to custodial and noncustodial settings. Findings from the research should inform specific and tailored approaches for the management of this group as identified in the Irish Youth Justice Strategy 2021–2027 strategic objectives 2.13 and 2.15, which state that protocols will be developed ‘for the management and care of young adult offenders aged 18–24 in the prison system’ and provision made for enhanced services upon their ‘release from prison’. This paper draws from the activities in the first year of this project. It details the provenance and purpose, the literature underpinning the research, the approach taken by the researcher, and the structure of the project.