08/07/2013: Please note that this expressions of interest call for potential Transition to Adulthood Alliance Pathway projects has now closed.

The Barrow Cadbury Trust, which convenes the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) programme, is seeking expressions of interest from voluntary sector organisations for grant funding towards the delivery of services aimed at supporting young adults at distinct points throughout the criminal justice process. These projects are intended to illustrate how a ‘T2A Pathway’ could be delivered.

BACKGROUND

The Transition to Adulthood (T2A) programme was established by Barrow Cadbury Trust in 2008 to develop evidence for and promote effective approaches for young adults throughout the criminal justice process (see www.t2a.org.uk). This work is supported by a coalition of 12 of the leading criminal justice, health and youth organisations, convened by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, which together form the the T2A Alliance.

Between 2009 and 2013, the Trust commissioned and grant-funded a number of demonstration projects, each delivering services to young adults at different points in the criminal justice process. Three of these, known as the ‘T2A pilots’, were subject to a formative, summative and economic evaluation (see T2A pilots). The evidence drawn from these projects, and around 30 other policy and research projects undertaken as part of the T2A programme, has had a substantial impact on policy and practice. We now wish to repeat this pilot project approach for different points in the criminal justice process.

THE T2A PATHWAY

In 2012, a framework to illustrate the T2A approach, the ‘T2A Pathway’ , was created. The T2A Pathway sets out ten stages in the criminal justice process at which effective interventions can be made to support young adults involved in crime, including point of arrest, prosecution, sentencing, probation and prison.

Now, the Barrow Cadbury Trust intends to select and fund a network of projects operating at stages of the T2A Pathway to demonstrate how services can be developed locally and to illustrate how, in principle, a ‘whole pathway approach’ could be commissioned in a given locality.

The Barrow Cadbury Trust anticipates grant-funding 6 projects, each running for up to three years. Each project is likely to be quite different, and operating at different points of the T2A Pathway.

The T2A Pathway projects will be subject to a formative and summative evaluation, which will begin before the Pathway projects go live and run until after they end. The evaluators will also assist with establishing base lines at each project site, and provide practical assistance to the projects to ensure that data are collected correctly and consistently. It is not intended that the evaluation will be a comparison between the projects, rather an assessment of each project’s impact at its particular stage in the process and an exploration of commonalities.

It is intended that the T2A Pathway will make a significant impact on policy-makers at a local and national level, and will provide a strong evidence base for the ongoing work of the T2A Alliance in the years ahead.

APPLICANT AND PROJECT CRITERIA

1. The lead applicants for each project must be a voluntary sector organisation;
2. Applicants must have robust financial and governance arrangements, and a steady track-record of raising funds;
3. Up to £50,000 funding is available from Barrow Cadbury Trust per project per year, for up to three years, with the expectation that they will be match-funded to create a higher overall budget;
4. Applicants must be willing to take part in data collection to support the formative and summative evaluation, and be able to demonstrate commitment to evidencing impact;
5. Applicants must be able to demonstrate a track-record for delivering similar interventions and have evidence of impact;
6. The projects must be able to start in January 2014, with a lead-in phase beginning in November 2013;
7. The projects must operate in at least one of the stages of the T2A Pathway; it is probable that projects will not cover more than two;
8. All projects must work with young adults, which are defined in this project as aged 18-24 years. However, the T2A approach advocates flexibility in service delivery based on developmental maturity rather than chronological age, and so we are willing to consider projects that start the intervention with young people aged 16+;
9. Each project must be delivered in partnership with at least one statutory agency;
10. The project must only deliver the intervention on a voluntary basis (i.e. the young adults are able to freely opt into it), and not as part of a statutory order or licence arrangement;
11. The projects must build on an existing project that is already up and running and demonstrating promising results. Barrow Cadbury Trust will welcome projects that are either already targeted at young adults, or which are currently working with other age groups and could be adapted to deliver a specific young adult dimension.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Projects will be selected using the following process:

• The first stage is the expression of interest, which must be received by Friday 5^th July;
• All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their expression of interest by Friday 19^th July;
• At this point, a shortlist of applicants will be invited to submit a full application, which must be received by Friday 6^thSeptember;
• Selected projects will be notified by Friday 25^th October;
• Selected projects will undertake a set-up phase (including engagement with the T2A Pathway evaluators) during November and December;
• Projects will go live in January 2014.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM

Once you have read the information above, and the supporting paper (attached below), please click here if you wish to submit an expression of interest.

If you have any further questions, please contact Barrow Cadbury Trust’s Criminal Justice Programme Manager, Max Rutherford.

For support with submitting applications, please contact Asma Aroui, Programme Administrator, or call 02076329068.