A pilot study of an extensive mentoring intervention aimed at diverting youth with violent behaviour from the criminal justice system
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN60787655 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN60787655 |
- Submission date
- 14/12/2022
- Registration date
- 16/12/2022
- Last edited
- 15/04/2024
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
The Restorative Mentoring (RM) project provided by Remedi aims to deal with significant levels of violent behaviours and violent crime committed by CYP in the Greater Manchester area. In particular, the intervention focuses on CYP aged 10-17 who have displayed violent behaviours and/or have committed a violent offence but who are not subject to an order higher than OOCD level. These CYP will be referred to Remedi via the police and youth justice services.
Who can participate?
CYP aged 10-17 years who have displayed violent behaviour OR have committed a violent offence, capped at the level of an OOCD sanction. Referred via Youth Justice Services and Police.
What does this study involve?
Provision of a dedicated, trained team of 10 full-time practitioners providing intensive one-to-one support for children and young people with 3 primary focuses:
1. Intensive Mentoring- including supported engagement with specialist mental health services
2. Restorative Justice
3. Family support
Following referral and initial suitability check CYP are offered:
• ALL:
o Initial introduction and needs assessment
o Supported referral on and direct support to access wider specialist mental health services.
o Impact assessment and evaluation
o Mentoring: ‘Action Plan’ agreed with young person with SMART goals and expectations established, one-to-one support with lower level mental health needs (confidence building etc). Will last for around 12 weeks, based on 3-4 sessions per week.
• RJ: Provision of full Restorative Justice intervention with harmed individuals identified (if desired by harmed/victim). RJ will be offered and mentioned during the mentoring work to give many opportunities to take part – using REMEDI’s empathic thinking work during the mentoring.
• Restorative-based family work: to address conflicts/improve communication and support etc. will be based on a family plan including family circle work, REMEDI’s ‘Together Families’ programme and work towards a family agreement/exit plan.
What are the possible benefits of participating?
• Reduced violent behaviours
• Reduced levels of aggression
• Reduced weapon carrying (where applicable)
• Reduction in displayed ‘behavioural problems’
• Reduced involvement in violent and non-violent criminal offences
• Reduction in gang involvement
• Improved relationships with friends
• Reduced levels of crime
• Reduced demand on other statutory services
• Reduced community tensions
• Improved mental/physical health of CYP
Where is the study run from?
Community places in the Greater Manchester Area, UK.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2021 to December 2023
Who is funding the study?
Youth Endowment Fund (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Amy Wells, hello@youthendowmentfund.org.uk
Contact information
Principal Investigator
Room 2133, University House
University of Birmingham
Egbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)121 414 6658 |
|---|---|
| s.bandyopadhyay@bham.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Single-centre interventional single-blinded randomized controlled pilot study |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet. |
| Scientific title | A randomised controlled trial of restorative mentors for children and young people |
| Study acronym | RRMPRC |
| Study objectives | This pilot study investigates the effectiveness of the Remedi mentoring intervention, which aims to divert children and young people aged 10-17 who have exhibited violent behaviours from the criminal justice system. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 25/03/2022, University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee (Edgbaston, B15 2TT, UK; +44(0)121414 8825; s.l.cottam@bham.ac.uk) ref: ERN_22-0117 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Prevention of further violent behaviours and violent crimes committed by children and young people aged 10-17 years |
| Intervention | The intervention will be offered to children and young people aged 10-17 who have committed a violent offence or have displayed violent behaviour identified by the police and youth justice services. Once referred, the participants will be randomized 1:1 into the two arms of the study, the control and treatment groups. The control group will receive "Restorative Choices", a short mentoring scheme which tends to consist of four sessions usually lasting 1-2 hours (depending on the attention abilities of participants). The treatment group will receive "Restorative Mentoring" which consists of three components: mentoring, restorative justice, and restorative-based family work. "Restorative Mentoring" will last for around 12 weeks, based on 3-4 sessions per week. Randomisation: We will use the statistical software Matlab to implement the randomisation. Allocation concealment will be ensured because Matlab will be operated by University of Birmingham researchers, who will not release the randomisation outcome until the child or young person has been recruited into the trial and gone through the initial questionnaire phase, which takes place after all baseline measurements have been completed. Central randomisation will be used, as the Remedi administrators who are involved in CYP recruitment, will have to contact University of Birmingham researchers to receive the allocation of the CYP. Participants and mentors will be blind to the randomisation procedure, while the University of Birmingham staff responsible for the randomisation will be blind to the questionnaire answers. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | The decision to proceed to an efficacy trial will be based on the number of participants recruited for the present study. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Recidivism will be measured by administrative police data, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention ends. 2. Changes in behavioural and emotional problems will be measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention ends. |
| Overall study start date | 01/09/2021 |
| Completion date | 31/12/2023 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 10 Years |
| Upper age limit | 17 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 464 |
| Total final enrolment | 119 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Referrals will consist of any young person (10-17 years) in receipt of any out-of-court disposal (at any level) that has committed a violent offence in Greater Manchester. |
| Key exclusion criteria | Once referred to Remedi, CYP must provide written, informed consent (or assent if relevant) before any study procedures occur. The same process would apply for parents/carers where CYP are living with a parent or carer. CYP who are unable to take part or who fail to engage with the intervention would be excluded from the study. In addition, CYP should not participate in other youth support programmes at the same time as the RM intervention. |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/04/2022 |
| Date of final enrolment | 28/02/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Manchester
S1 4FW
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Charity
1st Floor
64 Great Eastern St
London
EC2A 3QR
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 7414405031 |
|---|---|
| hello@youthendowmentfund.org.uk | |
| Website | https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/ |
Funders
Funder type
Charity
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/01/2024 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Other |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal |
| IPD sharing plan | No later than 3 years after the pilot, we will deliver the following for sharing purposes: 1. A dataset to the Department for Education containing only the personally identifying data (i.e. name, address etc.) for the CYP in the treatment and control groups, with a list of random reference numbers. 2. The evaluation data set and random reference numbers to ONS (https://www.ons.gov.uk/) (no directly identifying data will be included). We have no further information on ONS’s publication plans. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol file | version 1.4 | 06/09/2022 | 14/12/2022 | No | No |
| Funder report results | 01/01/2024 | 03/04/2024 | No | No |
Additional files
Editorial Notes
15/04/2024: The total final enrolment number was changed from 262 to 119.
03/04/2024: The following changes were made to the study record:
1. Funder report added.
2. The overall study end date was changed from 31/03/2024 to 31/12/2023.
3. The intention to publish date was changed from 31/03/2024 to 30/01/2024.
15/03/2023: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The recruitment end date was changed from 31/03/2023 to 28/02/2023.
2. The total final enrolment
16/12/2022: Trial's existence confirmed by University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee.
