Nick Jeffreys

New data on diversionary outcomes with youth justice service (YJS) involvement has been published by the Youth Justice Board – the first time this specific data has been made available. It’s a welcome step, and one YEF called for in our Arrested Children System Guidance back in 2023.  The figures show younger children (aged 10–14) were far more likely to receive a diversionary outcome…

In 2024, the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and the Centre for Justice Innovation (CJI) embarked on a partnership together with one shared aim: to help policing and youth justice services deliver diversion effectively for children.  Eighteen months on, the partnership has supported practitioners across the country to translate evidence into practice – helping youth justice services implement diversion approaches that prevent young people from becoming…

Last week, the Government published guidance on what Police, Youth Justice Services (YJSs) and other agencies should do when a child is found in possession of a knife.   The guidance emphasises the importance of timely intervention for children – a key tenant of YEF’s Diversion Practice Guidance.   The Government guidance also sets out that YJSs should make use of the YEF Toolkit, stating that ‘Interventions should…

Where a child lives shouldn’t decide their future but right now, it does. Access to out of court resolutions varies across the country, meaning some children get a second chance while others get a sentence.  What the evidence tells us  In one of our latest blogs, we spoke about:  Introducing the Out of Court Resolution…