Knowledge Exchange
Regular readers will know that for the last six years the Butler Trust has been running a new resource aimed at everyone who works in a criminal justice setting. The Knowledge Exchange is an online library of guidance and examples of best practice. The resource encourages users to suggest examples of best practice and guidance and allows users to search content by both source and sector. There are now over 600 resources instantly available for download. The resource is continuously curated and updated with any items which have now been superseded removed. I am lucky enough to work in partnership with the Butler Trust to manage and update the site.
How to use the site
The site has been designed to be simple to use. The front page includes both featured entries and recent additions but the two most useful ways of finding what you are looking for are the search box at the top of the page or the ability to browse by source, sector (custodial, probation or youth justice) or a wide range of themes (e.g. women, neurodiversity, knife crime, mental health…).
Recent additions
To give you a flavour of the resources are on offer, I am including links to some of the more recent additions on a wide range of topics.
Prisons
A constructive report from Nacro looks at how we can reduce (the very often preventable) deaths among people leaving prison. The report identifies the need for better substance misuse treatment on the day of release, improved connections between prison and community services, and robust action to reduce prison leaver homelessness.
It makes four key recommendations:
- Opioid treatment: All people released from prison with an opioid misuse problem should be offered OST on their day of release.
- Naloxone: The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care should set and meet a consistent national standard for the distribution of naloxone on release.
- Access to healthcare: The Department of Health and Social Care should work with the Prisons and Probation Service to ensure that everyone released from prison is registered with a GP and able to access immediate care.
- Prison-leaver homelessness: The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government should set out a joint plan to meet their target of halving the proportion of people leaving prison homeless.
Probation
There are a couple of particularly interesting additions in the probation section; both of which acknowledge the very high levels of stress that probation staff have been working under for some years.
A new report in HMI Probation’s Research & Analysis series pledges to adopt a new approach to learning from serious further offences without scapegoating staff.
The second, also from the probation inspectorate in their Academic Insight series acknowledges the very real issue of compassion fatigue in probation practice and provides recommendations on supporting staff who are suffering from vicarious trauma. The report is called: The cost of caring: compassion fatigue in probation practice
Youth justice
There has been plenty of practice development in the youth justice space including:
A new Targeted Prevention and Diversion evidence pack from the YJB which highlights the importance of ensuring diversion considers the needs and safety of victims and public protection, alongside those of the child, while identifying opportunities to strengthen consistency and restorative approaches.
A new set of resources produced by Redbridge YJS which sets out an approach to reduce stigma around neurodiversity, and help children recognise and build on their unique strengths.
Sutton Youth Justice Service has produced a set of immersive virtual reality scenarios designed to engage children in real-world decision-making. The scenarios include anti-social behaviour, high risk groups and knife crime.
Overall
Finally, for this latest update of 2026, Clinks has published the latest addition to their Evidence Library. Sophie King-Hill reviews the evidence on reframing masculinity and the justice system. She argues that our current blame based approaches are ineffective as they reinforce shame and defensiveness, pushing some individuals further from support and, in certain cases, toward harmful ideologies.
Instead, she advocates for responses recognise boys and men as partners in change, not problems to be managed. Adopting the holistic approach outlined above is a practical way to try to change the misogynistic behaviour that does so much damage to so many women and girls – and, more often than not, to the men and boys who harm them.
Thanks to Pierre Bamin for kind permission to use the header image in this post which was previously published on Unsplash.
