James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Part 4 of the Children Act 2001 (as amended) provides the statutory basis for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme (GYDP). The intention of the programme is to divert children and young people who have engaged in criminal or anti-social behaviour away from the criminal justice system and towards more positive life choices. Children who commit criminal offences are considered for admission to the Programme. Each case is assessed individually and the Director of the GYDP, who is a Garda Superintendent, decides if the case is suitable for inclusion.

Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) are a fundamental support to the operation of the statutory Garda Diversion Programme. There are currently over 100 YDPs nationwide, with a small number of additional projects due to come on stream this year to meet the commitment in the Youth Justice Strategy to extend this service to every child or young person in the State who can benefit from it.

Youth Diversion Projects are co-funded by the Irish Government and European Social Fund as part of the ESF+ Programme 2021-2027.

The Deputy may wish to note that I launched an evaluation of the YDPs recently, which demonstrates that the YDPs have proved very successful.

Interview data from the evaluation highlights continued interactions taking place between Youth Justice Workers (YJW) and individuals who have left the YDP but who continue to need some support. One YJW noted that ‘we invested in their life at some point ... so we can't just abandon them just because they turned 18 or they've left the project’. This continuing support is on an ad-hoc basis, including offering advice, assistance with preparing CVs for job applications and attendance at occasions such as weddings or christenings.

However, official data relating to re-offending could not be accessed by the Evaluation Team due to the fact that the data is not linked to other data sets as it relates to minors and it was therefore not possible to establish the effectiveness of the projects through this means. The Evaluation Team instead relied on interviews and surveys.

The YLS / CMI 2.0 tool, which is a risk assessment tool designed to assess risk and need, was also used, though its value as regards measuring crime risk was found to be extremely limited.

Throughout the evaluation, it was emphasised to the Evaluation Team that there is a need to be realistic about what can be achieved through the YDPs. Nevertheless, high proportions of Youth Justice Workers, Juvenile Liaison Officers, project managers and Project Committee members indicate that the YDPs are successful in achieving positive outcomes.

Overall, the analysis of the YLS tool shows that about half of participants who had two YLS assessments had decreased their overall risk score, about one third increased their risk score and about one sixth were unchanged.

The evaluation has a number of recommendations on linking YDP data and reoffending data which will be taken forward by the Department in collaboration with the Research and Development team of University of Limerick's Research Evidence into Policy, Programmes and Practice (REPPP) programme such as:

• Building on the rich description of the YDPs and analysis of different data sources provided in the evaluation, consideration be given to carrying out a more comprehensive analysis of the administrative databases using inferential techniques;
• Finding ways to access and analyse Garda PULSE data relating to individual YDP participants, without compromising privacy and confidentiality, with a particular focus on the trajectories of those who remain engaged in the projects, disengage in a planned way and disengage in an unplanned way; and
• Analysing of Garda aggregate PULSE data in respect of young people according to YDP catchment areas be carried out annually and trends noted.

I am advised that the table below provides the overall number of children and young people referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme for the years 2011 to 2021.

The figures for 2022 and 2023 are unavailable, pending publication of the Annual Report of the Committee Appointed to Monitor the Effectiveness of the Diversion Programme for those years.

Year	Total no. of children/young people referred
2021	8,514
2020	8,169
2019	9,842
2018	8,561
2017	10,607
2016	9,451
2015	9,807
2014	9,991
2013	10,420
2012	12,246
2011	9,721

It should be noted that the number referred to the GDYP does not equal the number who are deemed suitable for inclusion in the Diversion Programme. Each case is assessed by the Director of the GDYP for suitability for inclusion. There are a number of reasons why a child/young person may not be deemed suitable, including but not limited to, the serious nature of the offence, patterns of repeat offending, lack of evidence etc.

The Annual Reports of the Committee Appointed to Monitor the Effectiveness of the Diversion Programme and the Evaluation Report of the YDPs are published on gov.ie - Youth Justice Strategy 2021 - 2027 (www.gov.ie)