1. nef (the new economics foundation) AYM North East Regional Meeting 24 January 2014 YOT Diversion Survey

2. nef (the new economics foundation) Valuing What Matters & Criminal Justice nef & Valuing What Matters: –Specialists in measurement and evaluation Criminal Justice programme: –Delivered in partnership with the Centre for Justice Innovation Better Courts Youth Diversion

3. nef (the new economics foundation) Valuing What Matters & Criminal Justice Punishing Costs (2010) Full costs of youth custody Prevention (2012) “Upstream” interventions

4. nef (the new economics foundation) Youth Diversion Why this area? –Interest in prevention –Commitment to evidence Why now? –Promising trends (youth offending, FTEs, custody) –Non-consensus on causes –Window of opportunity? Why us? –Help establish value of services/practices

5. nef (the new economics foundation) The Survey Aims: –To learn more about diversion practices and emerging trends Design: –Exploratory –Open-ended Response: –71 responses –Primarily heads of services

6. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Approaches to Diversion Different operating models –Separate prevention teams v Specialised caseworkers v No non-statutory work Identification requires partnerships % of YOT staff time with young people spent on non-statutory/ prevention cases

7. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Partnerships

8. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Programmes in Use Individualised packages for identified youth “at risk” –Informal, small scale, “positive activities” Responses to ASB –Reparation, other work tied to ABCs Interventions following OOCDs –Mediation, workshops (consequences of behaviour, self-esteem, character building) Pre-court –Triage, YJLD

9. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Gaps Capacity issues –Increased OOCD numbers –Raised thresholds for access to services –Local programmes doing less due to cuts –Increased waiting lists Victim involvement programming Speech and communication interventions Parenting interventions Low-level gang involvement programming

10. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Sharing Data & Practice

11. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Analysis & Evidence

12. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Emerging Changes Higher out of court caseloads YOTs increasingly involved with earlier decision- making Smaller statutory caseloads ≠ less demand LASPO –Too soon to tell –But expectation of more OOCDs and more demands on YOTs time

13. nef (the new economics foundation) Findings: Suggestions for Practice Improvement Greater clarity around preventative role of YOTs –Make this a formal statutory (funded) requirement? Increased budgetary stability –Return of ring-fenced prevention funding? Formal monitoring and evaluation of diversion programmes

14. nef (the new economics foundation) Takeaways Local successes –Positive multi-agency partnerships –Credit for promoting prevention and diversion even when not statutory Concern for the future: –Budget cuts (YOTs and partners) –Preserving non-statutory services Practice Sharing Evidence

15. nef (the new economics foundation) Next Steps Will release a short summary briefing (March) Exploring: –How to value YOTs preventative work? Using local data to generate evidence? CBA framework? Interested in your ideas: –Ben Estep: ben.estep@neweconomics.orgben.estep@neweconomics.org