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Webinar

Outcome 22 for Children: Opportunities and Challenges 

Colleagues from across policing and youth justice are invited to join a Virtual Learning Café run by the Youth Endowment Fund in partnership with the Centre for Justice Innovation. This is part of our Evidence in Practice series, giving you opportunity to hear from experts and practitioners.

Outcome 22 (O22) was introduced to the crime outcome framework in 2019. It refers to situations where a ‘diversionary, educational or intervention activity, resulting from the crime report, has been undertaken as it is not in the public interest to take any further action’. It can be used for both adults and children but for the purposes of this event, the focus will be solely on its use with children. 

O22 is unique from other OOCRs for a number of reasons:

1. O22 is typically referred to as ‘deferred prosecution’ or ‘deferred caution’ as it allows the police, in partnership with their YJSs to offer intervention and support to a child, however, unlike other outcomes, if the child does not engage they could be prosecuted (/issued a caution) for the original offence. O22 can also be used for typical diversion related activities without being a deferred prosecution or deferred caution. 

2. O22 can be used even if a child does not admit guilt or take responsibility for the offence (with the exception of deferred caution). This differs from other OOCRs which do require the individual to admit guilt or accept responsibility. 

3. It is a voluntary outcome so police forces are not statutorily obliged to use it.

At this session we will discuss the challenges and opportunities in using O22 with children. The event will be hosted in partnership with the Centre for Justice Innovation and will include experts from the YJS and policing.