Taking a preventative approach to keeping young people out of the justice system, safe and well

Our impact 

Education and youth services play a critical role in disrupting patterns of limited engagement with education, such as absenteeism or exclusion, and risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. Since 2019 the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (GMVRU) has been fostering strong relationships with leaders in schools, colleges, and communities to find innovative and effective ways of keeping children and young people safe.

We worked with GM VRU to create a Horizon Scan of preventative practices across schools and youth work settings in the UK that are supporting pupils and young people, of all abilities to participate in learning, stay safe, and thrive in their communities. This document is a source of learning and inspiration, highlighting what it takes for places and systems to enable young people, especially those most at risk of being drawn into harmful situations, to engage in learning and stay safe.

The approach

To develop this Horizon Scan we developed evidence-based personas (fictional characters based on real people) to ground our work in the experiences of young people who are most at risk of exclusion and of entering the criminal justice system. We then interviewed 13 leaders from school and youth work settings, to develop case studies that offer practical insights into the environments and positive destinations needed for young people to succeed. 

Each case study explores

• Preventative practice that is working well
   
• Key features of good practice
   
• Insights into how to grow and sustain preventive practice across the system
   

One of the most powerful stories of change in the Horizon Scan comes from a high school in Edinburgh that has been supporting young people with health and wellbeing challenges back into learning. Headteacher Greg McDowall said: 

"We spend a lot of time sweating the small stuff in education. Whereas we've got to look at what is really going to shift the culture of the school and better support young people. So for me, that was the learning curve through past experience and I really feel we can engage community in Portobello.”