Joint Agency Response to Crime (JARC)
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Published on
Last updated on
The Joint Agency Response to Crime (‘JARC’) is a strategic offender management initiative led by An Garda Síochána, the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service, with the active support and engagement of the Department of Justice.
The key objectives of JARC are to:
Under JARC, offenders causing most harm in certain communities are identified and selected as ‘clients’ under one of several offender management programmes. Each programme is delivered on the ground by an operational team of frontline Gardaí, probation officers and prison officers who work closely with each client to address the factors behind their offending and to direct them away from criminality. JARC offers its clients tailored supports and practical help with addiction, educational, training or other needs. It is thus implemented in partnership with various community-based organisations and with the support of other government departments and State agencies.
JARC clients are closely monitored by the relevant agencies at all times and any negative behaviour, particularly any further offending, is quickly detected and dealt with. This is equally the case with offenders who choose not to engage with JARC.
JARC was first piloted under three Dublin-based programmes, as follows:
In 2018, independent evaluations were completed on each of the three pilot JARC programmes. These evaluations found that, while it was difficult to draw definitive conclusions given the relatively small numbers of clients (about 120 in total) and the limited measurement timeframe (18 months approx), all the indications were that the pilot programmes had helped to reduce both the frequency and severity of reoffending among their client groups and indeed had helped many clients to move away from criminality altogether.
A comparative ‘desktop’ review of the three evaluations is available below.
Critical review of initial evaluations on the three J-ARC pilot projects
It notes that during the time periods evaluated:
Following the success of these pilots, the ACER3 programme has been rolled out to additional locations in Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick, while a Youth-JARC programme (for offenders aged 16-21) is being piloted in Dublin and Cork in partnership with Tusla and the National Educational Welfare Board.