Turnaround Programme
Turnaround is a youth early intervention programme led by the Ministry of Justice.
Turnaround is a youth early intervention programme led by the Ministry of Justice. The programme provides multi-year funding to Youth Justice Services (YJSs) across England and Wales enabling them to intervene earlier and improve outcomes for children on the cusp of entering the youth justice system. This additional funding enables YJSs to support a cohort of children not on their statutory caseload.
The programme entered delivery in December 2022. Following the success of the programme, in February 2026 the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) announced a further £46 million of funding until March 2029.
As a well-established national programme, Turnaround uses early intervention and prevention to support government commitments to halve knife crime in a decade and to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime, as well as tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB). Turnaround principles acknowledge the complex needs of children on the cusp of the justice system, focusing on addressing the root causes of offending through offering a structured, whole family approach delivered by YJSs. The programme has funded bespoke, evidence-based interventions for up to 20,500 vulnerable children to March 2026 and aims to support a further 12,000 children by March 2029. This target is subject to ongoing discussions with the Welsh Government, where devolved funding arrangements from 2027 may affect how Turnaround delivery is implemented in Wales.
Eligibility
Children aged 10 to 17 who fit one or more of the following criteria are eligible for Turnaround:
- those who have come to notice of agencies with enforcement powers for repeated involvement in anti-social behaviour (ASB)
- those involved in ASB who have received:
- Community Protection Warning/Notice (CPW/N)
- Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC)
- Civil Order for ASB
- those who are interviewed under caution following arrest or subject to a criminal investigation attending a voluntary interview
- those who are subject to No Further Action (NFA) decision
- those who are subject to a Community Resolution
- those receiving a first-time youth caution, not including conditional caution
- those released under investigation (RUI) or those subject to pre-charge bail (PCB)
- those discharged by a court (including conditional discharge)
- those acquitted at court and/or
- those fined by a court.
Assessment and support
Although there is no single path to youth offending, there are certain needs and vulnerabilities associated with a child having an increased likelihood of being in contact with the youth justice system or becoming involved in offending behaviour. These include:
- Mental health concerns
- Substance misuse
- Care history/being a child in need
- Being a victim of crime/abuse
- Unstable family setting
- School absence and exclusions and/or
- Undiagnosed educational/ learning support needs
YJSs can use Turnaround funding to offer children and their families an Early Help style assessment to address needs and to build on individual strengths, with the aim of preventing them going on to offend or reoffend. Children and families are involved in decisions about the support and interventions they receive.
The programme recognises that YJSs best understand the needs of children in their local area and deliberately gives them the flexibility to decide which interventions should be used, provided these are evidence-based.
The programme is voluntary. Eligible children do not have to admit guilt to receive support. This voluntary aspect should help traditionally hard-to-reach children get the support they need and prevent an escalation to offending or reoffending.
Further information
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On programme delivery - Management information on Turnaround delivery January to December 2023
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On how Turnaround is operating in your area you can contact the relevant Youth Justice Service using these contact details.
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On evaluation - Turnaround Programme independent process and implementation evaluation: final report - GOV.UK
Updates to this page
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Updated information about the Turnaround Programme.
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The article has been updated to reflect grant funding for the Turnaround Programme in 2025/26. Information on the government’s safer streets mission has also been added, including how Turnaround aligns with the government’s safer streets commitments.
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Added translation
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First published.