New £20m fund focuses on keeping children out of justice system
Fiona Simpson
Friday, February 26, 2021
A new £20m investment from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) will be used to evaluate programmes aimed at keeping children out of the criminal justice system.
The fund is the first of two £20m pots created following a four-month consultation with young people with lived experience of violence and professionals working with them.
The first will examine and fund the work of diversionary programmes including mental health support, whole family interventions or mentoring.
The fund has already committed £5m to £10m over the next three years for black, Asian and minority ethnic-led organisations, it has announced.
Through the funding the YEF aims to discover how offering alternatives to arrest, conviction and custody to children who have offended can prevent them from becoming involved in violence later in their lives.
Later this year a second round of funding, also worth up to £20m, will be used to establish how helping families can support children and young people who are at risk of becoming involved in violence.
The YEF will continue to work with professionals in social work, family support and education to “make sure they’re funding the right projects”, the organisation said.
Jon Yates, executive director of the YEF, said: “We would like to thank every single person – the young people, the community and youth workers, the teachers, the social workers and the police officers – who took the time to help shape our direction.
“You were clear that if we don’t address the serious overrepresentation of some groups of children in the youth justice system, we can’t achieve our mission.
“As our work continues, we’ll carry on listening to you to make sure we do the right thing for the children we’re here to support. We’ll share everything we learn, because we know that evidence is no use if it just stays on the shelf. Together, we can use it to make change happen and keep our children safe."
To find out more about what the Youth Endowment Fund is looking to fund and how to apply, you can read the prospectus and sign-up to take part in a workshop.