Ben Estep
Young people come into contact with the justice system every day, often for unwise but relatively minor behaviour.
Although the number of young people in the system has declined precipitously in recent years, there were still almost 127,000 arrests of under-18s in the most recent reporting year. This accounts for almot 12 percent of all arrests, from only 10.5 percent of the population - suggesting that young people continue to be over-represented. What is the best response? A large body of research suggests that for most young people, minor offending behaviour should not be met with prolonged and deepening justice system involvement. This actually increases the probability of further offending.
Youth diversion aims to redirect young people away from formal justice system processing, while also holding them accountable for their conduct and, where appropriate, connecting them to supportive services. Where young people successfully complete an intervention package, their case is discontinued and they emerge without a formal disposal. Evidence strongly suggests that this is an approach that generates better outcomes for both young people and their communities.
In England and Wales, Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) – local-authority coordinated partnerships made up of representatives from social services, health, education, probation and police – coordinate the local provision of youth justice services. YOTs are central to successful diversion. But practice is highly variable across the country. YOTs’ work in this area is not a statutory requirement, and budget pressures are mounting: the Youth Justice Board (YJB) recently proposed emergency cuts of 14 percent to YOT budgets, on top of several consecutive years of reduced funding. Practitioners report that prevention work is in danger, and the YJB appears to agree.
That’s why we have developed a new toolkit for practitioners involved in, or considering creating, youth diversion schemes. This is intended to help practitioners make a stronger case for new and continued investment. The toolkit outlines the research case for youth diversion, offers messaging support for approaching new and existing commissioners, and provides guidance on the fiscal case. It was developed in collaboration with the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers (AYM).
Of particular significance is a method of demonstrating the cost effectiveness of diversion through estimating its impact on local justice system stakeholders. We’ve developed a simple tool to help schemes calculate the immediate cost avoidance of their work – what isn’t spent on formal justice system processing as a result of their service. The tool is available free to appropriate schemes, is easy to use, and produces actionable figures.
The commissioning environment has changed markedly in recent years, and reductions in public investment in children and young people are likely to continue. Protecting youth diversion from disinvestment requires maintain the support of existing stakeholders while also engaging new audiences. We hope that the toolkit helps in making the case.
Find the toolkit here. If you’d like to discuss this further, contact Ben Estep at bestep@justiceinnovation.org.