The Focussed Diversion programme delivers early, short-term mentoring and high impact interventions to young people at risk of school exclusion, exploitation, and involvement in crime. It aims to reduce the risk of young people entering crime through early intervention, strengthening protective factors, supporting families, and connecting young people into positive community pathways.

• Read the Focussed Diversion Navigator Mentorship Evaluation Report

You can also read a number of journal articles that have been published alongside the evaluation report:

• Mapping the local youth violence prevention ecosystem: a foundational study for diversion and navigator mentorship pathways
• Identifying unsupported children and young people via police contact: a retrospective cross-sectional observational study

We would like to thank our partners at the Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research (Oxford Brookes University) for carrying out both the Evaluation Report and Journal Articles, listed above.

Key Successes

Strong engagement and acceptability

• Very high parental consent (93%) and youth engagement (80% of cohort completed programme)
• Seen as supportive, strengths-based, and non-stigmatising
• Strong referral demand and school endorsement

Why does this matter?

• Early buy-in enables intervention before risk escalates, increasing preventative impact

Effective early intervention (prevention focus)

• Reaches young people at emerging risk, not crisis stage
• Targets school disengagement and behavioural vulnerability
• Aligns clearly with upstream prevention objectives

What impact does this have?

• Supports trajectory change early, reducing likelihood of exclusion and future risk of entering crime

Relational mentoring as a core strength

• Trusted mentor relationships drive:
  • Engagement
  • Behaviour change
  • Openness around risk (e.g. substance use, peer influence)

What impact does this have?

• Creates safe, consistent support that enables young people to make better decisions

Whole-family approach improves outcomes

• Programme evolved into a blended “family mentor” model
• Mentors support:
  • Parenting skills
  • Family communication
  • Navigation of services (e.g. schools, EHCPs)

What impact does this have?

• Strengthens protective family environments, improving sustainability of change

Positive early outcomes for young people

• Evidence of:
  • Improved behaviour and reduced incidents
  • Re-engagement with school / avoided exclusions
  • Increased awareness of risk and improved decision-making

What impact does this have?

• Demonstrates early behavioural change and stabilisation, consistent with diversion aims

Strong community engagement (once established)

• High sustained participation in activities once linked
• Activities (sport, enrichment) build:
  • Confidence
  • Routine
  • Pro-social networks

What impact does this have?

• Supports longer-term resilience and reduced exposure to risk environments

Positive Impact of Multi-Agency Working

Improved identification of need

• Collaboration (schools, police, social care, health) enables:
  • Earlier recognition of risk
  • More accurate targeting
  • Shift to school-based referrals improved early identification

What impact does this have?

• Ensures support reaches young people at the right time

Continuous learning and system improvement

• Multi-agency collaboration enabled:
  • Rapid adaptation (e.g. moving away from police-led identification)
  • Shared insight and learning

What impact does this have?

• Creates a responsive, evidence-informed model

Better coordinated support

• Multi-agency working provides:
  • Joined-up responses to complex needs
  • Reduced duplication and fragmentation
• Enables holistic support across:
  • Education
  • Safeguarding
  • Community services

What impact does this have?

• Delivers more effective, comprehensive intervention

Stronger system navigation

• Mentors act as connectors across services
• Support includes:
  • School liaison and advocacy
  • Linking to specialist services
  • Facilitating community access

What impact does this have?

• Reduces barriers and improves access to the right support quickly

Increased trust and legitimacy

• Referrals via trusted agencies (especially schools) increase:
  • Parent confidence
  • Engagement levels

What impact does this have?

• Multi-agency endorsement reinforces programme credibility
• Supports higher uptake and sustained engagement

Overall Programme Impact

The Focussed Diversion programme demonstrates that:

• Early, relational mentoring works to engage vulnerable young people
• Family involvement strengthens impact and sustainability
• Multi-agency collaboration is critical to identifying need, coordinating support, and improving outcomes
• The programme can positively shift behaviours, re-engage young people with education, and reduce escalation of risk

Key Takeaway

Focussed Diversion is a highly promising early intervention model. Its success is driven by:

• Strong engagement and trust
• Relational, family-centred delivery
• Effective multi-agency collaboration
• Focus on prevention and protective factors

Future impact will depend on maintaining these strengths while improving early identification pathways and access to community provision.