The Lloyds TSB Foundation Young Offenders Programme
The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales has launched its Young Offenders Programme which has 1 million funding available to charities which are working to improve the life choices and chances of young offenders in England and Wales.
You need to be a registered charity in order to apply. Your charity can be any size but should have a proven track record of working with young offenders, aged between 15 and 21, in areas including:
* Acommodation
* Skills training
* Employment mentoring
* Drugs and alcohol
* Mental health
* Restorative justice
* Family support and relationships.
Grants can fund new and innovative work. They can also be used to extend a proven model of successful work or to enable the development of joined up projects. Funding can be up to three years and can cover core and project costs. Capital costs are not covered.
The application deadline for expressions of interest is 25 September 2009.
For more information see the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales website http://www.lloydstsbfoundations.org.uk/FundingProgrammes/Pages/YoungOffendersFundingProgramme.aspx
Robberies by young people rise by 75pc
A teenage crime wave is sweeping Britain with the number of young muggers increasing by more than three quarters in the last decade.
The rise, which is the equivalent of 11 youngsters convicted everyday, comes as figures next week will suggest that robberies and burglaries are increasing across rural areas, adding to concerns that the recession is fuelling crime
In Cambridgeshire robberies rose by a third while in North Wales burglaries were up by almost a quarter.
Knife crime, and fraud and forgery offences are also rising, the Home Office annual crime statistics will show.
A total of 4,115, 10 to 17 year olds were convicted of robbery in 2007, the most recent data available. This was a 76 percent rise on the 2,342 found guilty in 1997, when Labour took power.
Those convicted of sex offences also increased by 16 percent, form 469 in 1997 to a total of 543 a decade later. In separate figures, of 26 police forces that replied to Freedom of Information requests, robberies by all age groups fell by six percent but that was due to a drop of 12 percent in the Metropolitan Police area.
If those figures are removed, total robberies increased. Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said the figures on teenage crime were “a consequence of the Government’s failure to get to grips with anti-social behaviour”.
“We let young troublemakers get away unpunished with anti-social behaviour and so many think they can get away with it and move on to something worse,” he added.
A ministry of Justice spokesman said: “These figures show an increase in the number of young people convicted for robbery which reflects the Government’s tough response to crime. Between 2006 -07 and 2007-08, recorded personal robbery fell by 16 percent.
“There is no room for complacency and we have much more to do.”
By Tom Whitehead, Heidi
Blake and Jeni Oppenheimer
Reparation?
What is Reparation?
Reparations designed to help the young person to put right the harm their offence has caused, either to the victim or to the community.
There are many ways they can do this, including:
- Making an apology to the victim of crime, either by letter, by video or in person
- Doing something for the victim, for example, repairing any damage that has been done
- Doing some unpaid work to help or benefit the community
Reparations defined as a set numbers of hours which are carried out voluntarily by the young person.
Reparation can either be Direct (to the victim) or Indirect (to the community).
Reparation can be classified into 5 main groups:
- Sport: e.g. helping to coach different sports to children
- Community work: e.g. helping out at a youth club, playclub, community centre
- Outdoor Work: e.g. carrying out gardening for a local environmental group
- Art/Music Related Work: e.g. designing a poster to deter other young people from offending
- Trade: e.g. carrying out work in the trade industry such as building and maintenance, painting and decorating, carpentry.
How is it decided what Reparation the young person does?
Reparation should be a positive experience for all involved. Therefore, negative, purely punitive activities should be avoided.
Reparation should be relevant to the young person’s offence to help them to understand how they are repairing the harm they have caused.
The victim’s views on the activities the young person can do for Reparation must be taken into account and acted on where appropriate.
Reparation should be based on the young person’s strengths or interests (including employment aspiration).
What are the aims of Reparation?
- To involve and empower the victim, helping them practically and emotionally
- To offer the young person the opportunity to put rights the damage
- To help the young person develop an awareness of the impact of their actions
- To encourage understanding and breaking down of stereotypes
- To help both parties bring the incident to a close, so that they can get on with their lives
- To bring healing and forgiveness to relationships hurt by crime
- To encourage the young person to move on and avoid re-offending
- To help the young person integrate back into their local communities
Who supervises the Reparation Placement?
All activities are supervised either by a member of staff at your placement or a member of staff from the Youth Offending Service. All the supervisors are Police checked and are responsible adults.
How long will it last?
If the young person is on a referral order then their reparation will last between 6-30 hours. This must be completed during the length of the young person’s order
If they have a reparation order from court, then the number of hours will be between 6 -24 hours
For any other orders, their case manager will decide with them.
What if they are ill and can’t make the session?
The case Manager at the youth offending service should be informed straight away, before the time of the appointment. The case manager will in turn call you to inform you and advise you of alternative arrangements.
What do I have to do?
You should:
If you are interested in helping prevent young people from re-offending, then you should contact the reparation team
- The reparation team will then arrange a meeting with you to assess your potential placement and discuss any questions you may have
- A form will need to be completed for you to be added to the Youth Offending Service Reparation list
- A risk assessment will be completed
How will I know that a young person is interested in working at my venue?
A member of the Reparation Team will contact you informing you that a young person is interested in working at your venue
The worker will only disclose relevant information i.e. name, age, level of risk to your users
The worker will arrange a meeting between the worker, the young person their parents/carer and yourself. At this meeting you will be completed and signed, confirming details of times, dates and work that needs completing. A copy wil be given to all parties involved. The nature of the offence will not be disclosed due to confidentiality Regulations
What will I have to do whilst the placement in progress?
We ask the Health and Safety regulations are explained to the young person prior to them starting work
- Treat the young person the same way you would any other member of staff
- Provide any equipment that is required i.e. goggles, hard hats
- Build a rapport with the supervisor and the young person
- Advise the case manager of any concerns, or if the young person fails to attend
For further enquiries Please ask for the Reparation Team
Leicester City Youth Offending Services
Eagle House 11 Friar Lane, Leicester LE1 5RB
Tel: 0116 299 5830
False abuse allegations to be wiped from workers’ records
Teachers and youth workers who have been cleared of alleged abuse against children will be able to wipe the claims from their records, the government has said.
Junior children’s minister Baroness Delyth Morgan last week pledged to change the system as part of an overhaul of the statutory guidance on handling of allegations of abuse against those who work with young people.
Morgan said a review of the guidance had shown it to be largely effective. However, she acknowledged concerns within the sector over the requirements in existing guidance that references on prospective employees should contain details of any allegations of abuse, even those proved untrue.
In a letter accompanying the launch of a consultation on the revised guidance, Morgan said: “I am happy now to confirm that we do intend to amend the guidance to make clear that allegations which have been investigated and demonstrated to be completely untrue do not need to be included in a teacher’s references.
“We are committed to ensuring that the systems for dealing with allegations provide effective protection for children against abuse while also providing a fair, transparent system for teachers and other members of the children’s workforce that minimises the impact of allegations that turn out to be unfounded.”
David Whewell, chair of the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services, welcomed the proposed change. He said: “This is an important change. If someone has been accused of something and that accusation has been found to be untrue, to then tar them with that forever more is very unfair.”
By Ben Willis
Children & Young People Now
15 May 2009
Teenagers need the power to step off the trouble train
No one who has power, status and security wants to give it up. And it’s especially had for anyone who makes policy or implements it to admit that they should share their power.
The people who run the country generally only talk to, and are influenced by, others like themselves: graduates with good grammar and a history of working hard and doing well. So it felt like a historic day last month when I went into No 10 Downing Street with a bunch of teenagers who don’t fit that mould.
To read the full article please click to the link below
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/apr/15/mark-johnson-inside-out