Project
The Children’s act (2001) states that detention should be a last resort for children. However, at any one time up to half the children residing in Oberstown children detention campus are on remand (they are awaiting the court processes and a decision has not yet be made by the courts in relation to their guilt). A major challenge for these young people is that their chaotic lives makes it extremely difficult for them to comply with their strict bail conditions. The Department of Children designed the bail supervision scheme to provide intensive support for the young people and their families.
It is really important that we evaluate schemes funded by tax-payers money, thereby ensuring value for money. The scheme included an intervention (multisystematic therapy) which has a proven record of accomplishment in other countries; however, we did not know if this intervention would work in Ireland nor how it would fit within the pre-existing court procedures. It was important to establish not only if the scheme made a difference but also how it worked.
The Department of Children and Youth Affair, Extern Service Providers, An Garda Síochána, Court Services, Probation Services, Oberstown Children Detention Campus, families and young people.
We worked closely with the various organisations to conduct the evaluation. In partnership with the Garda Síochána Analysis Service, we compared the offending rates (PULSE Crime Data) of the children enrolled on the scheme with that of a control group (children outside the pilot area who were detained on remand) before and after the intervention. We found a reduction of 72% in offending by the young people enrolled on the scheme, this was twice that of the control group. We found that procedures that ensure engagement in the scheme for not only the families but also all agencies was essential to obtaining these positive outcomes. There was a marked improvement in compliance with bail conditions and 85% of the young people who completed the intervention received community sanction at their sentencing hearing thereby avoiding detention. The findings from the evaluation served as the primary evidence for policy makers in there decision to continue the scheme in its current location and to extend the scheme to other locations in Ireland.
Research
The Children’s act (2001) states that detention should be a last resort for children. However, at any one time up to half the children residing in Oberstown children detention campus are on remand. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) designed the bail supervision scheme for young people at high risk of detention on remand to incorporate an intensive therapeutic element within the families of the enrolled child. This was implemented alongside the normal remand services (An Garda Síochána, and Probation Service).
DCYA designed a novel intervention to meet the specific needs of children who were in high risk of bail refusal in Ireland to prevent their detention before a verdict was reached by the courts. The scheme incorporated an evidence-based model within normal court processes and was piloted from the Children’s Court in Smithfield Dublin. As a pilot scheme it was essential to determine the outcomes but also the processed involved in the implementation of the scheme.
DCYA commissioned REPPP to undertake an outcome and process evaluation of the Bail Supervision Scheme. Due to the small number of families involved, ethical constrictions and the complex nature of the scheme we undertook a realist evaluation (contribution analysis) approach that incorporated a quasi-experiment element as one of multiple sources of evidence. This approach provided plausible evidence that the Bail Supervision Scheme had contributed to the documented outcomes. We analysed multi data types from multiple sources using diverse methodology. For example, in partnership with Garda Síochána Analysis Service we compared the PULSE crime data for the young people enrolled on the scheme with that of a matched control group and found a 72% reduction in reoffending for the intervention group, twice that of the control group. We interviewed children their caregivers and the frontline professionals who worked directly with the child and their family and synthesised that with an analyses of the service providers’ weekly case reports. We found that as the scheme progressed, there were reductions in drug use and aggressive behaviour and increase in bail compliance by the young people. Importantly at their sentencing hearing, 85% of young people received community sanctions thereby avoiding detention. We found that procedures at all levels, family, services, and governance that ensured ‘buy-in’ to the scheme was at the heart of these successful outcomes.