REPPP

REPPP is a research collaboration between the School of Law in the University of Limerick and the Department of Justice.  Established in 2016, REPPP’s mission is to support the youth justice system in Ireland to make rational judgments regarding youth justice policy and practice that are informed by scientific evidence. It does this through significant and ongoing policy-oriented youth crime research.     

The REPPP research programme is co-designed and refined with officials from the Department of Justice and informed by the Youth Justice Strategy. Methodologies for each study are presented in a comprehensive, practical, stepwise manner to encourage replication within the youth crime space nationally and internationally and wider applicability across human services. REPPP’s current research programme includes: 

• The Greentown Project: The Greentown Project involves the study of how young people are recruited into criminal networks and the development of a community response programme to address this challenge, known as the Greentown Response Programme.  This programme is currently being trialled in 2 locations in Ireland by community-based organisations with funding from the Department of Justice.

• The Youth Diversion Project (YDP) Research and Development (R&D) Team: In partnership with community-based YDPs, the R&D team generate new research, utilise practice wisdom, provide training and build capacity, with the overall aim of reducing youth offending and creating safer communities.  The R&D Team’s Relationship Study examined how effective relationships between Youth Justice Practitioners and young people can create better outcomes for young people.  The Relationship Model is now being implemented to the YDP network across the country.
• Improving Data Useability in the Youth Justice System: This project is exploring how to make better use of administrative data collected in the Youth Justice System to provide new insights into youth offending patterns and responses. The project will also be responsible for the development and implementation of the first system-wide annual performance report.
• The Local Leadership Programme:  The aim of the Local Leadership Programme is to bring about tangible improvements for service users and local communities, by enhancing the capacity of professionals working in, managing, funding, or supporting public service organisations, to tackle complex, multi-layered (referred to as ‘wicked’) problems.
• Stable Lives Safer Streets: In addition to the Department of Justice-funded research programme, REPPP is implementing a cross-border programme of youth justice policy-focused research with Queen’s University Belfast and the Centre for Effective Services. This project is funded by the HEA’s North South Research Programme (2022 to 2026). 

• Safer Futures: On behalf of the European Union Drugs Agency, REPPP is undertaking a project which aims to build on its existing work in the area of youth recruitment into drugs markets to develop a conceptual framework for the development of interventions in this area. 

• Other: REPPP works with the Department of Justice to undertake multiple small-scale research projects to provide timely real-world evidence to inform youth justice policy, programme and practice.