Irish Youth Justice Service Conference 2010 Superintendent Colette Quinn Sean Redmond Head of Young Offender Programmes Irish Youth Justice Service An Garda Síochána Working Together To Reduce Youth Crime

Working Together To Reduce Youth Crime Juvenile Diversion Scheme Developments in Juvenile Diversion Scheme Garda Youth Diversion Projects Active collaborations demanded by Children Act 2001 (as amended) and National Youth Justice Strategy ( ) Case example: Baseline Report of Garda Youth Diversion projects

Young Person Peer group reinforcement Alcohol Purchase Gathering Place Public Order Crime Playground park River Wooded Area Adult Older Group Member Parent Lax Licensee Poor Self Control Indifferent attitude to offending Poor Supervision & minimizing attitude by parent Poor school affection /attendance Alcohol Consumed Public Order Crime Profile 2: Repeat behaviour

Most young people grow out of crime …… but some appear not to! Peak age of offending [all juvenile offending] Vast majority of young people caught by AGS have little further contact with system Significant differences in trends for hedonistic offending and certain offences for gain Underpins the approach of light touch implicit in the Children Act Reciprocal responsibility to reduce youth crime

Difference in offence trends

The Landscape 20,000 young people per year contact with Garda Most offending relates to public order related incidents and shop theft Majority will stop offending / peak age Some will go on to offend more prolifically and seriously Baseline report illustrates a number of complex scenarios Single Garda force / wide coverage of service Service delivery arrangements [committed organisations]

Understanding the evidence There is no Single body of evidence

Bringing about change - beliefs Compliance is not the same as high performance Better performance from internal and behaviour change Many professionals are drawn toward excellence and want to perform better Opportunity for emergent leadership An Irish solution New change model Compliance is not the same as high performance Better performance from internal and behaviour change Many professionals are drawn toward excellence and want to perform better Opportunity for emergent leadership An Irish solution New change model

How will we improve outcomes? Alignment measures Capacity building measures Trial sites Alignment measures Capacity building measures Trial sites