The Ministry of Justice has published the Turnaround Programme Guidance (Version 5, March 2026), the latest iteration of guidance for this early intervention initiative. The programme has provided multi-year grant funding to Youth Justice Services (YJSs) across England and Wales since December 2022. Following the programme’s success, the MoJ announced in February 2026 a further three years of funding until March 2029.
Details
The updated guidance for the Turnaround Programme highlights the following points for 2026/27:
- The MoJ will work with YJSs and key partners to align eligibility criteria, share best practices, and raise awareness at eligibility trigger points. All referrals must be screened by the YJS before a child can progress into the programme.
- YJSs now have discretion to work with children who are open to Children’s Services where there is a clear unmet need that Turnaround can meet without duplicating existing support. Practitioners should consider wider vulnerabilities and take reasonable steps to avoid stigmatising children.
- Police must refer every child knife-possession offence case to YJSs. YJSs should develop mandatory plans and establish Deferred Prosecution schemes for appropriate cases.
- Delivery models should be adapted to meet local needs while retaining core, long-standing and evidence-based programme design features.
- The 2026/27 grant includes a £20,000 portion not linked to a child target. Eligible activities include supporting children, strengthening service links, staff training, partnership development, data-sharing improvements, and local programme analysis.
- Monitoring and evaluation remain a funding requirement. YJSs must provide regular data returns to the MoJ, retain individual-level data, and work with appointed evaluation partners and MoJ Analytical Leads.
Commentary
Expanded eligibility means YJSs can now support children open to Children’s Services where Turnaround offers additional support, and the new knife-possession referral requirement will bring additional children into contact with YJSs for the first time. Practitioners should familiarise themselves with the guidance, identify and refer eligible children within the three-month referral window, and ensure families understand that support is voluntary and requires no admission of guilt. The £20,000 flexible allocation provides an opportunity to invest in staff training, partnership development and local analysis.
The NatCen evaluation provides encouraging early evidence, finding that the programme is achieving its core objectives of improving outcomes for at-risk children, while maintaining a low offending rate for children who completed the programme.