Evaluation of the bail supervision scheme for children (pilot scheme)

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) designed a Bail Supervision Scheme (BSS) to provide the courts with an alternative for young people who were at high risk of bail denial. The BSS incorporates the evidence-based Multisystemic Therapy (MST) model within the normal court processes (for example, supports provided by court services, Young Persons Probation and An Garda Síochána). Young people at high risk of bail denial tend to have complex needs;1 they may have experienced multiple adversities, be early school leavers and live in challenging environments. Such conditions place additional challenges on the young person’s ability to adhere to the strict bail conditions laid down by the court. The MST model provides intensive support for the young person’s caregiver2 in his or her home. Taking a holistic strengths-based, collaborative, problem-solving approach, the BSS team3 works predominantly with the caregiver to help them to support the young person. By tackling barriers to positive change within the young person’s home and community environment and facilitating the caregiver to challenge the young person’s problematic behaviour, the BSS aims to facilitate sustainable pro-social change in the young person’s behaviour. Following a tender process in 2016, DCYA commissioned Extern4 to provide a pilot BSS for young people attending the Children Court (Court 55) in Smithfield, Dublin. Following an implementation period, DCYA commissioned the School of Law in the University of Limerick to evaluate the BSS. The evaluation combined multiple methodologies including a quasi experimental design 5 and incorporated multiple data sources to test a theory of change.6 It investigated whether the BSS worked (outcomes) and sought to identify the conditions that facilitated the observed outcomes (process). The report presents these findings