Support, not prosecution, cuts child reoffending, review finds

The research examined the two main types of pre-court diversion interventions around the world – informal and formal.

It found informal diversion cut reoffending by almost a third, while overall reoffending reduced by almost 15 per cent with formal diversions.

Informal pre-court diversion helps children avoid court and a criminal record by taking part in activities that address the causes of their behaviour and build skills for the future – for example, one-to-one counselling, drug or alcohol awareness courses or employment and vocational skills training. These schemes include ‘no further action’, community resolutions or deferred prosecution, where the police decide it is not in the public interest to take the case to court.

Formal pre-court diversion includes youth cautions and youth conditional cautions, and applies when a child admits to an offence. For the latter, children are required to participate in targeted interventions, such as restorative justice sessions or mentoring.

If the programme is completed, the case is closed without a court conviction. If not, the child can be prosecuted for the original offence.

The review found that informal pre-court diversion reduced future reoffending by an average of 30 per cent, based on nine impact studies involving nearly 6,000 children.

Formal pre-court diversion also showed positive results. It reduced violent behaviour by 25 per cent (based on five studies) and overall reoffending by 14 per cent (based on 35 studies involving almost 100,000 children). The YEF said most of the formal diversion evidence comes from North America and Australia, with three studies carried out in the UK.

The YEF says the number of children entering the justice system for the first time has fallen sharply over the past decade. In 2024, first-time entrants dropped by four per cent from the previous year and are 62 per cent lower than ten years ago.

“These falls partly reflect fewer children engaging in offending behaviour, but research also suggests the increased use of pre-court diversion schemes has contributed,” said the YEF.

“However, access to diversion support is not equal: practice varies depending on the officer or police force, meaning some children have fewer opportunities to benefit from support.”

In London, for example, a YEF-funded study found “stark racial and regional disparities in diversion”.

Analysing seven years of data (2015–2022) from the Metropolitan Police Service, involving nearly 265,000 children and young people, the study, published in June this year, found black children were over-represented in police contacts (44.3 per cent of cases versus 24.7 per cent of the local population) and were 14.8 per cent less likely than white children to be diverted (50.7 per cent vs 59.5 per cent), even after accounting for offence type, severity and prior arrests.

The YEF is now calling for diversion to be delivered “more consistently and fairly” across the country.

To help achieve this, the charity has published guidance for police forces and youth justice services with seven key recommendations. These include developing clear eligibility criteria, putting in place robust joint decision-making processes with partners, and ensuring children get swift access to evidence-based support.

Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy, assistant director, Policing and Youth Justice, at the YEF, said:  “Evidence from around the world shows that providing tailored, evidence-based support to children arrested for the first time or less serious offences is an effective way to reduce reoffending.

“It helps keep communities safer and, most importantly, gives children a better chance to get back on track.

“But diversion only works if it’s done well. That means making sure children get the right support quickly, and that it’s delivered fairly and consistently across the country, so every child has the same chance to turn their life around.”

One organisation delivering a pre-court diversion programme is Salford Foundation. Its STEER programme, which is funded and evaluated by the YEF, supports young people referred by Greater Manchester Police with weekly one-to-one mentoring, including sessions on safety mapping, healthy peer relationships and positive activities.

Jack Ward, service manager, Targeted Youth, at Salford Foundation, said: “At its core, our diversion programme is about trusted relationships. When a young person has an adult they can rely on, particularly after an arrest, we can work together to identify the right way forward.

“There are benefits not only for the young person in terms of navigating away from the trauma associated with being involved with the criminal justice system, but also for the system itself, both in a societal and financial sense.”

Reflecting on their experience with Salford Foundation’s STEER programme, one young person said: “I always thought fighting solved problems. Since being supported by my mentor, instead of my anger coming out in a negative way, I decided to walk away from confrontation. It was hard, but I knew it would be better for me. I have felt comfortable speaking about things, knowing I would be helped, not judged.”

Keith Fraser, chair of the Youth Justice Board, welcomed the research by the YEF, especially “the powerful finding that informal diversion can reduce reoffending by 30 per cent”. “When a child commits an offence, we have a critical opportunity to intervene, reduce their vulnerability and achieve positive outcomes,” he said.

“This research adds significant weight to the evidence that tells us we should, wherever possible, avoid criminalising children.

“However, I am deeply concerned by the persistent disparities in access to diversion, particularly for black and mixed ethnicity children. A child’s ethnicity should never determine their treatment within the justice system.

“To help address this, we strongly advocate for greater, and more equitable, use of Outcome 22 (deferred prosecution) – which is a proven method to prevent children from being drawn into the system unnecessarily.”