London, May 2026
A national pilot exploring how restorative justice can be delivered effectively for children and young people across England and Wales is being expanded thanks to the agreement of multi-year funding. The project will deliver a shared practice model of restorative justice across 10 youth justice services (YJSs). The pilot is being led by Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All), supported by the Youth Justice Board, and backed by multi-year funding from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The Coram Institute for Children will evaluate the implementation of the model, to inform national restorative justice programme and policy design in the youth justice system.
Restorative justice has been formally part of the youth justice system in England and Wales since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, yet its promise has never been fully realised and its overall picture has remained fragmented. This pilot responds directly to the absence of consistent, robust evidence on what works for children and young people who have offended.
"For too long, restorative justice in the youth justice system has operated without the rigorous evidence base it deserves. This pilot is an opportunity to change that. By developing a shared practice model with practitioners on the ground and testing it properly, we can begin to build the evidence that policymakers, victims, and young people themselves need. We are grateful to the Youth Endowment Fund, the Youth Justice Board and all participating Youth Justice Services for entrusting RJ4All with this important work."
From July to December 2025, RJ4All worked with ten selected Youth Justice Service teams across England and Wales to co-design the Shared Practice Model: Implementing Restorative Justice in Youth Justice Settings, with the technical support of a dedicated Restorative Justice Practitioners Board and insights from fifteen young people with lived experience of restorative justice. The Coram Institute for Children, the independent evaluation partner, has designed a rigorous pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility of implementing the model, assess evidence of promise, and establish the readiness to conduct a definitive trial.
Designed for practitioners and youth justice professionals working within the formal system, the model sets out ten practical steps for delivering direct and indirect restorative justice with children and young people aged 10 to 17, from initial referral and risk assessment through to the encounter, outcome monitoring, and holistic follow-up. It is grounded in the Child First evidence base, centred on victims, and allows flexibility to reflect local needs.
The model is now moving into its Delivery and Evaluation phase, testing further across 10 YJSs in Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Buckinghamshire, the Isle of Wight, Lambeth, Leeds, Northamptonshire, West Mercia, Wigan, and Southwark. Training and implementation will be tailored to each service, with ongoing oversight to ensure consistency and quality throughout the pilot.
"Our Violence Prevention Toolkit suggests restorative justice can have a high impact – reducing violence by 34% and reoffending by 15% on average. But most of the evidence comes from the US, and we need to better understand how it works here in the UK. This evaluation will generate important insights into delivering restorative justice more consistently and, if successful, will lay the foundations for a full-scale efficacy trial.”
The YJB provided strategic sponsorship and endorsed the model, bringing national leadership, practice expertise and quality assurance to its development. It supported recruitment and engagement across YJSs to facilitate strong partnership working and sector‑facing activity
"Restorative approaches play a powerful role in reducing reoffending when delivered well. This pilot will help strengthen the evidence on what works to deliver high-quality restorative justice across the youth justice system. The Youth Justice Board’s role is to support local services to improve practice, and this work will provide valuable insight into how restorative approaches can be delivered consistently and effectively for children, victims and communities.”
“We are delighted to be conducting this pilot randomised controlled trial for the Youth Endowment Fund, alongside RJ4All. Despite growing interest in restorative justice approaches, there remains limited evidence on how and for whom these interventions work, particularly for children who have offended. This pilot will generate much‑needed evidence to inform policy and practice, strengthening the evidence base on what works in youth justice, and ensuring that children receive timely and appropriate support.”
An online conference later this year will bring together practitioners, policymakers and academics to share early learning and support wider system adoption. Further details will be announced in due course.
Contact us: Theo Gavrielides – Founder and Director of Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All)
Email: t.gavrielides@rj4all.org
Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All)
RJ4All is a charitable international institute with a mission to address power abuse, conflict, and poverty through the use of restorative justice values and practices. We do this through a combination of restorative justice projects delivered both internationally and locally at the RJ4All Rotherhithe Community Centre in London. We advance community cohesion, equality, human rights, and redistribute power by supporting civil society and delivering social justice and poverty relief projects, educational programmes and high-quality volunteering opportunities for marginalised groups.
For more information: https://rj4all.org/
About the Youth Endowment Fund
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) is as an independent charitable trust, established in March 2019 by Impetus. The charity’s mission is to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. It does this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.
For more information: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/
About Youth Justice Board
The YJB is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for oversight of the entire youth justice system in England and Wales. Its vision is for a youth justice system that sees children as children, treats them fairly and helps them to build on their strengths so they can make a constructive contribution to society.
For more information: www.gov.uk/yjb
About Coram
Coram is the UK’s first and longest continuing children’s charity. Established as the Foundling Hospital in 1739, today we are a vibrant and growing charity group of specialist organisations, supporting hundreds of thousands of children, young people, families and professionals every year.
We support children and young people from infancy to independence, creating change that lasts a lifetime. We deliver life skills, reading and drama programmes in some 3,000 schools nationwide; we uphold children and young people’s rights and provide free legal advice for children and families who need it. We support practitioners working in kinship, fostering, early years education and adoption. We run London’s largest regional adoption agency, and through the Coram Institute for Children, we deliver cutting edge research to inform policy and practice and deliver lasting change.
For more information: www.coram.org.uk
