Mapping Innovation

We work to promote the best of Britain’s innovative justice practice.
Kairos is a Coventry-based women's charity who have developed a womens justice support service for women who are in contact with the criminal justice system who are also subject to, or at risk of, sexual exploitation.
The Sunflower Women's Centre is the first and only women's centre in Plymouth. They offer a wrap-around service for women with a range of complex needs.
Eve’s Space is a women’s centre in Bolton that supports women who are at risk of offending or who have previously offended. The service aims to address the issues that put women at risk and help them to rebuild their lives.
The Y2A Hub is a multi-agency hub for all young people on probation in Newham, which offers a developmentally appropriate and maturity-informed approach, supporting young people to gradually become adults.
LEPH (Law Enforcement Public Health) Link is a brief intervention and signposting app, inspired by public health principles.
Cranstoun’s West Midlands Arrest Referral Service aims to reduce the cycle of crime and substance use by assessing individuals who may be eligible for an alternative to custody.
Through the Local Criminal Justice Board, a number of out of court disposal pathways designed to encompass a broad demographic have been established, offering support and diversion away from formal court proceedings.
This screening, treatment and diversion pathway, was developed to identify the links between gambling related harms and crime, to provide individuals with the opportunity to access the appropriate treatment service provision.
This multi-agency, early intervention project, supports the well-being of vulnerable and expectant parents. The project aims to break the links between early disadvantages - social and health inequalities - and poor future outcomes for families by providing wide-ranging support.
This voluntary referral scheme takes a public health and educational approach to the use of drugs. It is used as a method of diversion away from criminal sanctions for those caught in ‘simple possession’ of controlled drugs.
New Chance is an adult diversion scheme for women based in the West Midlands. Participants are referred by police and are given access to a programme of tailored support.
This drug diversion scheme aims to reduce the harm caused by the use of drugs and drug-related offences by diverting people into a community resolution and access to drug treatment and support.
Glasgow Alcohol Court was established in 2018 and seeks to reduce the rates of reoffending by supporting individuals who offend with their underlying alcohol issues.
C3 targets individuals who are engaged in prolific, non-violent adult residential burglary offending. Participants are given a deferred sentence and an intensive community sentence plan tailored to their individual needs.
The Glasgow Drug Court aims to reduce drug misuse and related offending. If accepted on the programme, participants must engage in drug treatment, regular drug testing, and court reviews to monitor progress.
The Edinburgh APSC is aimed at adult men with a pattern of low-level alcohol-related offending. They receive a community order incorporating addiction treatment, regular judicial reviews and support with additional needs.
Pathfinder is a Deferred Caution and Deferred Charge scheme run by Devon and Cornwall Police. The diversion scheme aims to reduce harm and re-offending through the use of interventions with a strong community focus.
FDAC is a therapeutic, problem-solving court model which aims to provide parents with intensive support to help them to address their drug and alcohol issues, and reduce the numbers of children in care.
Aberdeen Problem-Solving Approach (PSA) seeks to reduce the use of short custodial sentences by providing disposals to women and young men with complex needs and multiple previous convictions.
HMP Holme House is a reform prison that seeks to rehabilitate prisoners through its Drug Recovery Prison Programme (DRP) which helps prisoners to cope with addiction by addressing their underlying issues.
Belfast SMC takes a problem-solving approach to help offenders with underlying substance misuse issues. Eligible offenders have their sentences deferred while they engage in an intensive treatment programme.
This course aims to reduce the number of repeat alcohol-related crimes, with particular focus on violence. The programme combines interventions that address both violence and alcohol in conjunction.
The CSTR scheme aims to reduce reoffending by improving access to mental health and substance misuse treatment in the community through greater use of treatment requirements in community or suspended sentence orders.
Compulsory sobriety tags were piloted in London, North Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire to try to tackle a variety of alcohol-related night crimes such as alcohol-fuelled assault. The tags have now been fully rolled out across the whole of England and Wales.
Previously known as the Alcohol Diversion scheme, this course is targeted at first-time offenders or those who commit low-level crimes whilst drunk and offers them the opportunity to pay for and attend a training course on alcohol misuse and risk-taking behaviours.
This screening tool has been developed to allow non-specialist frontline services to be able to identify if someone is affected by problematic gambling and try to engage them into an appropriate treatment option.
The Drug Education Programme (DEP) is a programme that offers individuals caught in possession of drugs a one-time opportunity to attend a course on the topic of addiction within Avon and Somerset.

This map charts innovative projects happening across the UK’s justice systems. You can search and filter the projects to find things that are most interesting to you.

The Centre for Justice Innovation regularly engages with practitioners to find out what’s exciting them in the world of justice. We want to know what projects practitioners are running that they are most proud of and, just as importantly, the ones a few counties away that are inspiring them.

We are expanding the map so that it not only includes innovations in criminal justice, but also in public family law and the child welfare system. We are keen to hear from practitioners from across the UK about new and exciting initiatives that we can add in all areas. If you would like your work to be included, please get in touch

Before you get in touch, please be aware that in order to be included on our map we require that your project:

  • is led by, delivered in partnership or commissioned by a statutory agency;
  • can demonstrate improved outcomes. In criminal justice, this might be for victims or service-users, or in family justice, for parents and children.
  • is innovative! By that we mean, it is trying something new in your locality or for that particular target group.