Garda diversion scheme growing

THE GARDA’S youth diversion programme last year dealt with more than 300 children aged 11 years or younger, a new youth justice report has revealed.

The number of children and teenagers under 18 years passing through the Garda’s diversion programme reached 5,480 last year, an increase of 23 per cent since 2008.

The annual report of the Irish Youth Justice Service reveals that of all of the children to pass through the Garda diversion programmes last year, 318 were aged 11 or younger. Some 411 clients of the service were aged 12 years.

These figures do not include children who broke the law and had their cases dealt with by the juvenile courts.

The remainder of the 4,750 children dealt with by the Garda diversion programmes were aged from 13 to 18 years.

The Garda youth diversion programme is aimed at diverting children from the courts, instead dealing with them by way of a formal or informal caution.

Under the programme the Garda seeks to offer support and guidance to a young person to minimise reoffending without the need for a child to go before the courts and start accruing a criminal record.

The diversion programmes are based on the concept of restorative justice and are grounded in the concept of paying the highest regard to the needs of the victims.

National director of the Irish Youth Justice Service Michelle Shannon suggested the increase in the number of children coming into contact with the Garda diversion programmes resulted from a determination to keep child offenders away form the courts.

“(We) have made the Garda youth diversion projects more effective and have begun to focus the project’s activities on dealing with local crime problems,” she said. Her agency had also in 2010 supported the probation services for young people in promoting the optimal use of non-custodial sanctions.