Restorative justice - the evidence: A pilot for the youth justice system of England & Wales
Frequently Asked Questions by Youth Justice Services Teams
- Project Overview
The RJ4All International Institute is pleased to act as the Delivery Partner for The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) for a ground breaking pilot project aiming to create the evidence needed for restorative justice in the youth justice system of England and Wales.
YEF is a leading funder of early intervention programmes aimed at preventing children and young people from becoming involved in violence. Recognising the current lack of consistent and comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness of restorative justice within the Youth Justice System (YJS) (Gavrielides, 2011a), YEF is investing in this pilot project to address this gap.
The project will support a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) and a detailed Implementation and Process Evaluation of direct and indirect restorative justice interventions involving children and young people who have offended.
The project has two core aims:
- Design, develop and co-ordinate the delivery of a shared practice model of direct and indirect Restorative Justice Practice across 10 Youth Justice Service teams in England and Wales
- Successfully run a Pilot RCT with Implementation and Process Evaluation of restorative justice practices with 10 pilot YJS teams to measure fidelity to a consistent Shared-Practice Model, feasibility and outcomes.
- Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of restorative justice will the pilot trial measure?
We are aware that most of restorative justice case work involves indirect and preparatory work. During the co-design we took into consideration how indirect and direct process often overlap and maintain the same aims into account and will include both forms in the evaluation. This will include face-to-face or online restorative justice encounter in the form of victim-offender mediation, conferencing, restorative justice circles, shuttle-mediation, proxy-victims or representatives and letter writing. This expansion of the original project brief was made after serious consideration of the realities of how restorative justice works in the YJS setting.
What does consistent restorative justice mean?
At this stage of the pilot, we would like to prioritise YJSs that experience some form of consistency in restorative justice case work and will help implement this through the co-designed shared-practice model which should reflect your best practices. This does not mean by any means having large case work. We are aware that case work is small and where it does take place the quality is good. Consistency does not mean not including the vast amount of work that goes into preparing for direct encounters. It does not mean not including the indirect work that takes place with harmed and harming parties (separately). It also does not mean that every restorative justice process looks the same. Restorative justice needs to be adaptable to local contexts and the needs and the wants of the people involved. We are aware that on many occasions, there is not restorative justice outcome/ conclusion. Instead, the consistency is focused on access to tools and resources, as well as the conceptual and legislative framing that shapes the practice and the principles behind decision making regarding the preparatory, encounter and follow-up stages of a restorative justice process.
What is the time commitment for the pilot delivery and evaluation of the trial?
Participating pilot teams are expected to partake in the full trial, registering approximately 10 cases to the RCT for evaluation, depending on size and resources of the service. Intake of new cases being registered to the trial will be during the first year, from 1st October 2026, with the whole trial running to June 1, 2029 (33 months) to leave room for following case journeys to completion, follow-up evaluations and reporting on findings.
How many restorative justice cases will be needed during the delivery phase?
Each participating Youth Justice Service will aim to recruit around 10 eligible cases during the delivery phase. This includes both participants in the intervention group (direct and indirect restorative justice processes) and those in the control group (Youth Justice Services Business As Usual). Referrals will be supported and monitored with help from RJ4All’s assigned staff.
What specific evaluation method will be used, and how does it meet the Victims’ Code?*
The evaluation will use a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design, where young people are randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group to measure the effect of direct or indirect restorative justice, such as face-to-face meetings, circles, shuttle mediation, letter-writing. To remain compliant with the Victims’ Code, participants in the control group will always have the option to drop-out of the trial if they get randomised into the control arm and decide they want to pursue restorative justice, they will just no longer be evaluated. Drop-out of participation in the trial is available at any point, in any arm of the trial, and participation is only enabled through consent.
RCTs are thought of as the ‘gold standard’ of research designs, where the aim is to measure impact. This idea largely comes from their ability, when carried out well, to measure causal relationships. With all other factors being held constant through the randomisation, bias is eliminated, and so the difference in outcomes between the two trial arms, treatment/intervention or control, can be seen as a robust estimate of effectiveness. Outcomes (the main focus of this trial is on reoffending) are assessed after an agreed period of time, and the impact is estimated by the difference in the outcomes between participants in the intervention arm and participants in the control arm.
The evaluation will go through appropriate ethical scrutiny to ensure this plan is ethically and legally sound.
Is this pilot going to evaluate only the impact on offending and re-offending?
No! Although the funder’s priority is to create the first evidence base of the impact of restorative justice in youth offending and re-offending, the pilot is interested in measuring impact in relating to the harmed party(ies) and the community. This is in line with RJ4All’s holistic approach to repairing harm and the acknowledgement of the continuum of violence. We also understand that the line between young harmed and harming parties is blurred. However, without an identifiable harming party, the case will not be eligible for the pilot. The harming party will need to fall within the pre-determined criteria of (a) young person as this is defined in UK legislation and falls within the jurisdiction of the YJS of England and Wales (b) has committed an offence as this is defined in UK legislation (c) has admitted guilt where possible. The harming party can also be a group of individuals.
How does this project relate to the new Victims’ Standard and the Victims’ Code?
We recognise that many Youth Justice Services have already been working hard to strengthen their restorative justice provision, particularly in light of the updated Victims’ Code and the new Victims’ Standard published by HMIP. This project is designed not only to support YJSs in meeting these requirements, but also to help them excel by embedding high-quality, consistent RJ practice aligned with national expectations. Through the co-design phase, we aim to incorporate and build upon the excellent work already being done across the system, ensuring the final model reflects both local expertise and legal standards.
Do the restorative justice cases need to be fully completed to be considered during the delivery phase?
No. Referrals where restorative justice was offered and assessed, even if the process didn’t conclude with a full meeting can still be counted. What matters is that the case was actively managed with a clear restorative justice intention and an identifiable victim.
There have been some policy updates recently, how can I find out more about them and do they affect my practice or the criteria for cases in the trial?
About RJ4All
RJ4All is a charitable, user-led international institute with a mission to promote restorative justice, equality, and human rights. We are globally recognised for translating complex criminological and social justice concepts into practice through real-life pilots and community-led projects.
We are proud to lead this pioneering initiative alongside our partners and invite you to join us in shaping the future of restorative youth justice.
About Youth Justice Board
The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and are responsible for overseeing the 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.
About Youth Endowment Fund
The Youth Endowment Fund is a charity with a mission that matters – we’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. Through our strategy, we do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.
About Coram
Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity, established in 1739. The organisation draws on its long-standing experience and evidence to identify effective approaches for supporting children and young people. Coram works in collaboration with government bodies, local authorities, professionals, and families to inform and improve policies, practices, and systems that affect young lives.