Positive Activities and Youth Justice Update - October 2008
30 Oct 2008
Welcome to ‘Positive Activities and Youth Justice Update’, a monthly eBulletin from the Community Safety and Youth Justice team at The National Youth Agency. The bulletin covers news relating to youth justice and community safety plus events and training opportunities, resources, funding opportunities, practice examples and much more.
Also of interest...
Please feel free to distribute this edition of Positive Activities and Youth Justice Update to your colleagues and networks. We also welcome contributions and if you have news event or a new resource or want to tell us more about your own work with young people around youth justice please email us >>
News
£3m government funding to help tackle knife crime
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced that additional funding would be available to the 10 police forces taking part in the tackling knives action programme. The money will go towards rolling out after-school patrols and increasing police presence on routes to and from schools. It will also see police using safeguarding laws to remove young people from the streets at night and officers will be assigned to work with schools and teach pupils about safety. Home Office press release >>
Projects to support young crime victims
£13 million to establish Intensive Intervention Projects
Twenty areas in England are to receive £13 million to set up Intensive Intervention Projects designed to challenge and support at-risk young people and prevent them from turning to a life of anti-social behaviour and petty crime. The programmes will be set up between 2008 and 2009, targeting up to 3,000 young people who will be given one-to-one support and help with specific problems, such as drug abuse. DCSF press release >>
22 projects to strengthen community leadership
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced the 22 projects that will share in a £1.3 million Community Leadership Fund aimed at supporting Muslim communities to unlock the potential of local people to take a lead on tackling violent extremism. One strand of the funding will be to support youth-led projects which develop the leadership skills of young people. This includes both formal and informal activities and training such as sports, workshops and mentoring. Recipients of the first funding round include the Muslim Youth Helpline and Muslim Youthwork Foundation. Communities and Local Government press release >>
Crime plan is 'missed opportunity'
The Association of Youth Offending Team Managers has criticised the government's Youth Crime Action Plan for failing to reduce custody levels or improve support for young offenders leaving custody. The organisation has branded the plan a missed opportunity that ‘does little to address the high use of custody for children and young people’. The association claims that the plan also fails to tackle problems for young people leaving custody and lacks details about issues such as resettlement and how services can better support ex-offenders. Youth Work Now article >>
YJB appoints new Chief Executive
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has appointed John Drew as its new Chief Executive. He will take up his post on 1 January 2009. Drew is currently the Director of Housing and Community Services at the London Borough of Redbridge. His career includes experience of social and children's services across a range of local and county authorities. YJB press release >>
Extended Positive Activities for Young People - Project update
YRN working with extended PAYP+ projects
The Young Researcher Network (YRN) is working with The NYA’s Community Safety and Youth Justice team to support the 15 extended PAYP projects across England to undertake service delivery reviews led by young people in order to increase the impact of these projects. The YRN is currently developing and delivering group-centred training packages for projects, covering different aspects of research and evaluation. The initial two groups of existing service users are from Birmingham and Sheffield and will be evaluating PAYP services in their area. The YRN will be providing training in order to build-up skills and confidence to ensure the research and/or evaluation is of a high quality. Contact Darren Sharpe, YRN coordinator for further information.
Other Practice
Young people offer advice to police
Young people in the London Borough of Waltham Forest are to advise the police on youth issues on a regular basis. A youth independent advisory group has been established to work with police on issues relating to young people. The group of 15 young people are aged between 14 and 19 and all have been victims, witnesses or perpetrators of crime. The borough believes it is the first project of its kind in the UK and hopes that if it is successful it could be expanded across London. CYPN article >>
Lambeth young people curate national exhibition
Young people from Lambeth Youth Offending Service have curated the Koestler Trust's annual exhibition, 'Art by Offenders', which is being held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The show marks ten years of youth justice reform and runs until November 8. Admission is free. YJB press release >>
Transition project for young offenders
Social justice charity the Barrow Cadbury Trust is to launch a three-year pilot project designed to support young people leaving young offender institutions. The Transition to Adulthood project, aimed at 16 to 22-year-olds in Birmingham, London and Worcestershire, will provide participants with mentors dedicated to helping them avoid re-offending. Young people will receive tailored support on issues including employment, relationships and substance misuse and be linked with local voluntary and community organisations to access further support for up to three years. Barrow Cadbury Trust press release >>
Rainer Crime Concern kicks off £8m youth community scheme
Community Space Challenge is an £8.3 million five year programme funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Initiative and managed by Rainer Crime Concern. In 2006 projects working with young people were asked to submit ideas for environmental projects and the 70 best initiatives received funding to bring the ideas to life. Working in neighbourhoods all over England, the Community Space Challenge encompasses a wide range of environmental initiatives. All 70 projects are being delivered by organisations which work with young people to provide positive alternatives to getting involved in anti-social behaviour and crime. Community Space Challenge web page >>
Tower Hamlets Summer University
A feature on the Tower Hamlets Summer University, which provides year round positive activities for local young people aged 11 to 25. The scheme has been instrumental in reducing youth crime - reducing juvenile nuisance by 17 per cent, drug offences by 25 per cent, and an overall reduction in youth crime in the borough by eight per cent over the summer holiday period. The scheme has also won a clutch of awards for its work. Guardian article >>
THSU web site >>
Resources
NACRO resource on participation and youth justice
A briefing paper ‘Principles of participation for youth justice’ produced by NACRO provides a context for considering how principles of participation might be applied to children and young people within the youth justice system. It outlines the advantages of an approach that gives service users a voice and explores some of the implications for practitioners within a youth justice setting. Download >>
Knifecrimes.org – web resource
Knifecrimes.org is a web resource supported by the Home Office and set up by Ann Oakes-Odger whose son was a victim of knife crime. It includes news, advice and support and a number of resources on the subject. Knifecrimes.org website >>
The YOT Health Practitioner: identifying and sharing good mental health practice
Mental health issues are an important area of health practitioners’ work as their role has evolved, particularly since the provision of separate funding for drugs workers within Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) was established. A guide available from NACRO provides information on the role of YOT health practitioners, including good practice examples. Further information >>
New eBulletin from The NYA
Opening Doors: broadening youth access to positive activities is The National Youth Agency’s new free monthly eBulletin aimed at practitioners, managers and policy makers in organisations and partnerships which provide positive activities for young people. Each edition will include a news and policy round up and provide information on practice examples, new research and resources, consultations, training opportunities, funding and more. To receive ‘Opening Doors’ you will need to subscribe – visit www.nya.org.uk/openingdoors
Presentations from the Youth Justice Service Managers Conference available
Presentations from this year's Youth Justice Service Managers Conference, which took place in Stratford-upon-Avon in September, are available to download. Subjects include overviews on PSA 24, Youth Crime Action Plan and Youth Justice Planning Framework. Download presentations>>
Justice Shield
A teenage volunteer has seen off stiff competition from police, lawyers and staff at criminal agencies across England and Wales to win the 2008 Justice Shield, the leading award for outstanding contributions to criminal justice in England and Wales. Eighteen-year-old Matthew Entwisle from Lancaster is a volunteer police cadet who led a project on police interaction with young people which led to police chiefs in Lancashire taking on his ideas. Ministry of Justice press release >>
Consultation/Research Proposals
NEET case studies
The National Youth Agency is currently conducting research for a report on the re-engagement of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) back into these service areas. If you have any examples of good practice using non-formal learning approaches with 16 to 19-year-olds who are NEET, please contact Tricia Jessiman at by 31 October 2008.
Research
Young people and territoriality in British cities
An exploratory study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that examines the manifestations and impact of territorial behaviour among young people in disadvantaged areas of British cities has found that young people are increasingly confining themselves to their immediate neighbourhoods, where territoriality rules their lives. The report finds that although interventions from projects and youth workers are having an impact, little is being done to address the fundamental problem: the feeling in some communities that the opportunities of the wider world are not for them. Further information >>
Being a young victim of crime ‘part of daily life’ – inquiry
A major inquiry into youth disaffection undertaken by the Nuffield 14-19 Review and youth charity Rathbone has found that young people see the risk of being a victim of crime as 'an inherent and omnipresent aspect of their daily lives'. The report also found that other young people were drawn to join gangs in search for a sense of belonging akin to family life. One of the recommendations made the inquiry is that schools should offer lessons in first aid so that pupils know how to cope if they come across someone who has been shot or stabbed. 14 - 19 Nuffield review >>
Parliamentary issues
Commons debate - Youth Violence (London)
Simon Hughes MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey introduced a lengthy debate on the issue of youth violence which took part in the house on October 21. Hansard source >>
Events and Training
Violent Youth Gangs: Developing Comprehensive Local Strategies
7 November, London
The conference aims to outline the contours of a comprehensive, multi-agency violent youth gang strategy that can be translated into practice in gang-affected neighbourhoods based on evidence from mainland Europe, the US and the UK. Delegates will learn about: evidence-based, multi-agency gang strategies that worked in a major British city; new and innovative approaches to the policing of youth gangs; and the impact of one of the leading UK gang exit programmes. The conference will be relevant to policy makers, professionals and managers in a range of services and sectors. Further information >>
Look What Happens When Young People Set the Research Agenda!
15 November, Warwick
This Young Researcher Network (YRN) conference is of interest to those involving young people in research. The conference will showcase the findings from 14 youth led research projects that have been carried out this year. Further information >>
Wasted Lives Reducing Youth Crime: maximising potential
NACRO annual youth crime conference 2009 - Early Announcement and call for workshops
1 - 3 April 2009, Nottingham
Workshops are sought on areas of innovative practice policy or research across the full spectrum of youth justice interventions. For further details on the conference or to submit a workshop application please contact Caroline Fuller.
Holding an event or training?
If you are holding an event or providing training on issues around youth justice and community safety we can help you publicise this in Positive Activities and Youth Justice Update. Please email us >>
Visit The NYA Justice and Safety website: www.nya.org.uk/justiceandsafety
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