Colleagues from across the education sector are invited to join a virtual learning café run by the Youth Endowment Fund. This is part of our Evidence in Practice series, which sits alongside our Toolkit giving you opportunity to hear from policy experts and practitioners on relevant research and practice.

There is strong evidence that diverting children who have committed low-level or first-time offences, rather than taking them to court, can protect them from future involvement in crime and violence. It can also lower the severity of any crimes they do later commit. Diverting children is also likely to achieve these results for a lower cost than processing through the formal justice system.

In this session, we’ll focus on how we can effectively divert children towards evidence-based support. We’ll hear from the Youth Justice Board who’ll showcase their new case management guidance on how and when to use out-of-court disposals. We’ll also learn about the Centre for Justice Innovations newly updated toolkit for practitioners which provides detailed guidance on how diversion should operate to maximise impact. Finally, we’ll hear from a youth justice practitioner who leads on implementing diversion within their local area and who will share their lessons learned.