Monitoring and Evaluation - practice and research working

together: a National Model

In Scotland there is a commitment from the Scottish Government to the provision of restorative

processes in the youth justice system so that all people harmed by youth crime will be given the

opportunity to participate in a restorative justice process. These services are delivered through 32

local government authorities

To ensure consistency of provision and data collection and to allow cross-site comparison this

provision is supported by three key processes:

•

The development of Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practitioners, their Case

Supervisors and Line Managers which established nationally recognised standards and

definitions of best practice.

•

A national programme of training to support the Best Practice guidance to enable

practitioners

.

to develop the skills required

•

The provision of a national web based monitoring and evaluation system to support

the consistent delivery of services. A web based approach allows local input to a national

database. Data can be extracted locally for local reporting and is also available nationally

for monitoring and reporting

Data recording and collection in Restorative Justice cases is complicated by multiple

interconnections. Restorative Justice data collection tools are rarely able to capture the variety of

interactions between participants, such as what offences were committed by whom and against

whom, and what responses were made, who made them and to whom were they offered.