Minister of State with responsibility for Youth Justice, James Browne T.D., is delighted to announce just under €6.7m in funding allocations for over 50 Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) nationwide. YDPs engage with young people through a range of supports, including education, training and employment support, social enterprise initiatives, as well as personal development and supports such as mentoring, and personal development activities.

The Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 was published in April 2021 and a major change contained in this Strategy is a new and expanded mandate for 105 YDPs across the State. Additional funding of €6.7m was allocated to youth justice services in Budget 2022, which sees a substantial increase from €18m to €24m on the previous year’s budget. Approximately €780,000 of the new funding which Minister Browne has secured will be allocated to establish a small number of new YDPs, and the commissioning process for these will commence later in the year.

The Funds Administration Unit in the Department of Justice will now contact each YDP that submitted an expression of interest for additional resources to inform them of the decision made and then process the payments as per the agreed allocations.

Link: Funding allocations for Youth Diversion Projects for 2022 (spreadsheet)

Additional information

In June 2021, all YDPs were invited by the Department of Justice to submit an expression of interest for additional resources to meet needs which would arise in implementing the Youth Justice Strategy commitment to expand YDP services, including boundary extension and service elements additional to existing activity. Requests amounting to €13m were received by the Department.

Following this, an external committee was convened to agree a process on how this additional funding will be allocated. Representatives from Tusla, Department of Community and Rural Development, the Probation Service, An Garda Síochána, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and a representative from REPPP were invited to join the external committee.

The applications received from the YDPs were scored based on the capacity of the applicant, the strength of the proposal, value for money and the strategic fit. The scores awarded were re-assessed to ensure they aligned with priorities set out in the Youth Justice Strategy, i.e. boundary extension, early intervention, harder-to-engage and family support. 

Breakdown of funding allocation is below - 

SERVICE  
Boundary Extension €2,321,759.32
Harder-to-engage €1,036,569.32
Early Intervention €1,485,267.40
Family Support €1,270,578.03
Solas allocation* €534,020.00
Total €6,648,194.07
New Projects** €780,000.00 

* Development of existing hard-to-reach service in Dublin

**To be allocated following open invitation to service providers later this year. Estimated full year allocation