Youth Justice
How do we best support arrested children to prevent them becoming involved in violence?
The Youth Endowment Fund is a charity with a mission that matters. We’re here to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence. We think any credible plan to reduce violence has to recognise that children rely on seven essential sectors to be safe, one of which is youth justice. We plan to work with youth justice practitioners, delivery organisations and system leaders to better understand and deliver on the changes most likely to reduce violence.
Why are we focusing on youth justice and youth offending?
There are three key reasons why we are focusing on youth justice:
1. Improving the way we support children means less victims and better lives for children
At least one in three children who are arrested and then convicted or cautioned go on to commit further offences. There is clear evidence that improving the way we respond to these children can reduce crime – this means less victims, more people feeling safe and better lives for children.
2. Better evidence-based support to children who are diverted means fewer victims in future
Diverting children to effective services is a big opportunity to reduce re-offending. Evidence from many rigorous reviews, summarised in the YEF Toolkit, shows that approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy, mentoring or sport programmes can reduce youth offending. Conversely, approaches such as prison awareness programmes are known to be ineffective, or can even increase the chances of re-offending. Faster referrals to more effective services have the potential to improve outcomes for children.
3. Improvements can be made to the way we respond to arrested children.
Although the use of diversion has increased over the last 20 years, there is insufficient awareness of what effective diversion looks like. The funding formula for youth justice services does not reflect local levels of need or properly recognise diversionary work. Vulnerabilities such as child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation are too often missed at the point of arrest. Referrals to support can be slow, particularly for key therapeutic interventions.
Toolkit evidence for youth justice and youth offending
The YEF Toolkit highlights high-quality research on approaches used across the youth justice sector. The aim of the toolkit is to reduce youth offending and serious violence by showing what works, what shows promise, and what is less effective or even potentially harmful.
The toolkit offers system leaders, youth justice practitioners, and delivery organisations clear, evidence-based guidance, helping them make informed decisions about programmes and interventions for children and young people.
Explore more approaches on YEF’s Toolkit summarising the best available research evidence on preventing children and young people’s involvement in violence.
Focused deterrence: most effective approach
Evidence from the YEF Toolkit shows that focused deterrence has a high probability of reducing serious violence and youth offending within the youth justice sector, and also the policing sector. This approach targets a small number of individuals at the highest risk of involvement in violence and combines clear consequences for continued offending with coordinated support to help them change course.
Focused deterrence works by bringing together police, youth justice services, social services, and community organisations to deliver a consistent message. Violence will not be tolerated, but support is available for those who want to stop offending. This may include access to education, employment support, mentoring, and substance misuse services alongside enforcement activity.
The evidence indicates that focused deterrence has a strong positive impact on reducing violence. On average, programmes using this approach saw a 33% reduction in serious violence and reoffending. 22 of the 24 studies in this research saw positive impacts on youth offending.
We are highly confident in our evidence. This is an effective approach because the evidence is drawn from multiple high-quality studies, including rigorous evaluations carried out in real-world youth justice settings. Read more on this report below:
Changing systems
How we are supporting change across the youth justice sector
In December 2023, we published our Systems Guidance: Arrested Children: how to keep children safe and reduce reoffending. The report summarises evidence of what works, the experiences of practitioners and young people, and provides a set of recommendations to improve practices, policies and systems.
- Systems Guidance
Report:Systems Guidance: Arrested Children
The Youth Endowment Fund exists to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. One of the ways we seek to achieve this mission is improving support for children when they are arrested. This includes diverting them from formal youth justice processes like appearing at court. This is a critical moment where effective support can change…
Free self-evaluation tool for youth justice partnership leaders
As a leader in a youth justice partnership, we know you’re committed to keeping children safe from crime and violence – but it’s not always clear how best to achieve this, or what next steps to prioritise.
This free digital tool enables you to evaluate your area’s out of court resolution practice against the best available evidence and practitioner insights. Once completed, you will receive immediate insights that highlight strengths and pinpoint areas for improvement.
Changing practice
How can the youth justice sector deliver diversion effectively?
In April 2025, we published our Diversion Practice Guidance, which was co-authored by the Centre for Justice Innovation. It focuses on what happens to children at the early stages of the youth justice system when they first encounter the police. This includes both informal diversion schemes that divert children from all formal outcomes and formal out-of-court disposals, which can involve a formal caution but still divert the child away from court. Review our seven recommendations to effectively implement diversion practices.
- Guidance
Report:Diversion Practice Guidance
This report – which was co-authored by the Centre for Justice Innovation – focuses on what happens to children at the early stages of the youth justice system when they first encounter the police. This includes both informal diversion schemes that divert children from all formal outcomes and formal out-of-court disposals, which can involve a…Youth Justice
Whole Area Model
A new approach to evidence-based diversion for children
The Whole Area Model (WAM) pilot from the Youth Endowment Fund helps reduce reoffending by supporting evidence-based youth diversion. Research shows that diverting children from the criminal justice system lowers the risk of future violence and offending.
Partnering with the Centre for Justice Innovation
We’ve partnered with the Centre of Justice Innovation to:
- Build awareness and appetite for evidence across the sector.
- Support Youth Justice Services to improve practice and do what works.
- Support us to deliver the recommendations set out in our Systems Guidance.
The Centre for Justice Innovation are delivering a tiered level of support across the youth justice sector, including:
- Quarterly virtual learning events to build awareness of existing and emerging evidence on approaches, interventions and policy.
- Lighter touch training and support based upon the learning needs identified by the sector.
- Intensive support for ten youth justice services to adopt evidence-based approaches to supporting children at-risk of or involved in violence.
If you’d like to find out more about this support, contact us.
Find out how you can get involved with YEF
You are invited to join our events specifically for the youth justice sector, to see how we can collectively tackle violence prevention for young people.
FAQs
What is youth justice?
Youth justice refers to the services and systems that work with children and young people, typically aged between 10-18, who come into contact with the law. This includes prevention, supervision, and support aimed at reducing reoffending and helping young people move away from crime and violence.
What do youth justice workers do?
Youth justice workers play a key role in preventing youth offending by supporting children and young people at different stages of the youth justice system. This includes early intervention, diversion from formal justice processes, and delivering evidence-based programmes that reduce reoffending, such as those in the YEF Toolkit.
What is focused deterrence in youth justice?
Focused deterrence is a targeted approach that brings together police, youth justice services, and community organisations to work with a small number of high-risk young people. It delivers a clear message that violence will lead to consequences, while also offering support such as education and employment help.