Youth Justice Strategy 2021 - 2027

The current Youth Justice Strategy 2021 - 2027 was developed under the guidance of an expert Steering Group chaired by Minister of State James Browne TD and with the benefit of broad consultation with stakeholders.

The Strategy is conceived largely as a developmental framework, which provides a starting point for a range of actions and initiatives. It is grounded on child welfare principles, deriving in particular from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Objectives in the Strategy are premised on the need to maximise opportunities to promote positive behavioural change, and it includes a wide range of issues relevant to children and young people at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system, including:

• early intervention and preventative work
• family support
• diversion from crime
• court processes
• supervision and support in the community
• detention and support post release

Pursuing this broad agenda will be based on cooperative working as reflected in the Vision Statement for the Strategy:

The Strategy emphasises evidence-informed development of programmes and interventions. Implementation of the Strategy will prioritise enhancement of existing services such as Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) and developing a range of more specialised interventions with a particular focus on harder-to-reach children and young people.

Additional Youth Justice related supporting material and research documents will be uploaded on a regular basis and can be found lower on this page.

Youth Diversion Projects are co-funded by the Irish Government and European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2021-2027.