In 2008, Nacro’s conference - Back from the Brink - examined approaches to steering young people away from crime. Three years on, things have moved on and crime is down. There are encouraging signs that recent policies have made a positive difference and the number of young people in custody is lower than ever.

Reoffending down

Fewer young people reoffend. Those who do reoffend commit fewer crimes, and the number of young people coming into the criminal justice system has fallen. Yet public concern about youth crime and antisocial behaviour remains high and concerns have heightened following the riots in England in August 2011. At a time when the prevailing call is for policies that appear tougher, we must hold out for policies that are smarter.

In these straitened times, it is more important than ever that we spend public money wisely, and stick to what works. We know what works: we must change the way young people think and the way they solve problems. We must implement and manage programmes for young people well. And we must target those young people who are most likely to get involved in crime and those who are least likely to grow out of it if left to their own devices.

Beyond the brink

Knowing what works is not enough though. We know what works with some young people some of the time. But interventions which work well in some situations work less well in others and promising pilots do not always produce the same results when rolled out on a larger scale. The next big challenge, therefore, is to discover what works across large geographical areas with large volumes of offenders, and to have an impact on the small but significant number of young people who continually commit crime and end up in custody over and over again.

New thinking

Payment by results offers an opportunity for new thinking, with a rich landscape of new providers getting involved and developing new ideas and new models for preventing youth crime and reducing reoffending, based on what works. Nacro is gearing up to play a leading part in this bright new world of opportunity.