The interim evaluation of the scheme, which asks young offenders to meet their victims and agree on a reparation plan, was conducted by Queen's University Belfast. It found that almost nine out of 10 youth crime victims were "happy" with the outcome and about one in two young offenders described the scheme as "very satisfactory".
But more than a fifth of young people were not satisfied with the scheme, which has been on trial in Belfast and the Fermanagh and Tyrone areas since December 2003.
Alice Chapman, director of the youth conferencing scheme at the Youth Justice Agency, said: "We are pleased with the findings overall. It showed high levels of participation by victims."
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