Details
The Youth Endowment Fund (“YEF”) released their key recommendations to improve access to, and the effectiveness of, diversion from formal criminal justice procedures such as court appearances for arrested children. Their evidence-based recommendations demonstrate that emphasis on diversion at an early stage of a child’s encounter with criminal processes – particularly at the point of arrest - can significantly reduce rates of re-offending and the likelihood of that child becoming involved in violence.
Why focus on diversion?
The YEF has focused on diversion methods because there is strong evidence that diversion for low-level crime or first-time offences significantly helps to protect children from future involvement in violent crime. Diversion away from criminal processes can prevent labelling, such as ‘criminal’ or ‘delinquent,’ which negatively impacts a child’s future prospects. Further, reducing exposure to the criminal justice system reduces the risk of meeting others involved in crime as well as witnessing exploitative and violent behaviours. Finally, developing pro-social behaviours in children will build skills to protect them from future involvement in crime.
Key recommendations
The YEF has produced seven key recommendations to improve support for arrested children.
- Police have incentives to use diversion. The use of Outcome 22 (an outcome code the police use when a child completes diversionary activity and it is not in the public interested to pursue the offence) is not used to record a successful outcome for children. Re-labelling this as a positive outcome in crime reporting frameworks would incentivise police to utilise it more.
- Police confidence in responding to vulnerable children. Police are not adequately identifying vulnerable children who need protection and whose situations are often the root cause of their crime. Police need updated criteria for identification procedures and safeguarding measures.
- Review funding of Youth Justice Services. The funding structure is outdated and not reflective of informal diversionary work that forms a large part of the caseload after a child’s arrest. YEF will work with the Ministry of Justice to update the funding structure to target areas most in need and formalise access to funding.
- Improve speed and effectiveness of referrals. Referral to diversionary methods is a complex process involving many partner agencies leading to significant delays. Simplifying the process and ensuring parties are working together, for example, by ensuing senior staff members from the education and health services attend the Youth Justice Service management board meetings as standard, will help achieve the goal of a referral within four weeks of arrest.
- Prioritising what works best. Partners, such as local commissioners, police and youth justice services, need assistance to determine the most effective causes of action, noting that not all approaches are suitable for every child. Use of evidence about what interventions work best, including different children’s contexts, will ensure children are best supported.
- Access to therapy. Large numbers of arrested children suffer with complex mental health needs without theraputic treatment, despite its proven effectiveness. An audit of access to treatments is required.. The use of new methods, such as training youth workers to deliver Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, could assist with addressing demand.
- Better data. Data needs to be better processed on a national scale to determine what support children are being offered and different outcomes of various supports. Currently, data is collected at a local level and YEF propose working with the Youth Justice Board to develop a consistent system.
Commentary
The YEF’s work with partners to implement these recommendations will see a positive impact on children’s experiences after arrest. The focus on restorative justice will likely produce reduced re-offending and engagement in violence after a child’s arrest. For those working in the criminal process, the reforms - if implemented - will greatly assist with navigating its complexities and help ensure children access to diversion out of the system. The evidence base behind this report will be particularly useful to professionals wanting to achieve diversionary outcomes for the children they represent. The recommendations can also be referenced in both local multi-agency meetings when trying to achieve change and in the context of individual cases.