Education at the Heart of the Children’s Court: Evaluation of the Education Justice Initiative Final Report

Every year over a thousand young people appear before the Criminal Division of the Victorian Children's Court. These young people typically have experienced significant social and personal challenges in their life, and tend to have a history of poor school experiences and be partially or entirely disengaged from education. Improving the educational attainment and inclusion of young people who offend has been identified as one of the most effective means of reducing the risk factors associated with criminal behaviour. The Education Justice Initiative (EJI) was established in this context, commencing in September 2014.

The Education Justice Initiative (EJI) is funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET) to address educational disadvantage among young people involved in the youth justice system in Victoria. The initiative is managed by Parkville College, the school operating in all the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) secure services. The DET funding for the EJI included an allocation to support an independent evaluation. This has been conducted by researchers from the Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning at Victoria University (VU). The VU researchers worked collaboratively with EJI staff in order to answer the following research questions:

1. Who are the young people who are supported through the EJI, in terms of background demographics and previous schooling experiences?
2. How does the EJI operate in order to re-connect young people appearing before the Children’s Court with education?
3. What is the value of the EJI: what outcomes and benefits does the EJI achieve for young people and for other stakeholders?