Analysis: Practice - Youth justice - A better way to rebuild lives

A two-year pilot resettling young offenders in the community has ended and claims to be able to save 80m a year.

Reset was a Rainer-led scheme offering young offenders aged 15 to 25 more support as they left custody. It ended in June, but Reset has today (15 August) released the report Business Case for Effective Youth Resettlement, which claims a lack of planning for young offenders leaving custody wastes more than 80m a year.

Reset, which stands for Resettlement, Education, Support, Employment and Training, worked with more than 50 partners to pilot a model in deprived areas of London and Manchester where young people have access to a dedicated resettlement worker who links support across housing, education and welfare. In some cases, offenders were matched with a volunteer mentor from the local community, who met them while they were in custody and continued to work with them for nine months after release. The aim was to bridge gaps in the resettlement process.