Trial and Error: Children and Young People in Trouble with the Law
A Guide for Charities and Funders
Aim of the Report
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) is a think tank that aims to help funders and charities gain greater impact.
The report explores some of the issues surrounding youth crime and emphasises the pioneering and insightful work that charities do to keep crime figures down. It is aimed at both charities and funders and studies the youth justice sector’s strengths and weaknesses and how investment can have the best impact.
The Report Findings - Why User Voice?
Whilst the majority of charities work on crime prevention, there is an important role for charities to act as an independent source of research and analysis and as policy changers.
Participation has been put into place in other public services yet there is reluctance to do so within the criminal justice system. It is important to put the voices of ex-offenders at the centre of policy change. User Voice is highlighted in the report as leading the way in criminal justice. The report commends User Voice’s work of consulting with offenders on behalf of government, through councils within prisons and in the community with the aim of involving services users in the evaluation of the criminal justice system.
The report also stresses User Voice as an opportunity for funders interested in ‘user participation’. It says User Voice would benefit from funding as it could “...pay for a forum, or a discrete piece of research or evaluation that would be valuable to the sector.”
It concludes that although the challenges may be great, funding charities such as User Voice will help move policy in the right direction.
For the full report please follow this link.
