UK
£40,000 scheme to steer kids away from crime
Young people in Bath who are at risk of turning to crime will get the support they need thanks to a new £40,000 scheme. The Family Intervention Project has been launched to provide support for teenagers who are identified as likely to offend or re-offend because of problems in their home life.
It will allow a dedicated key youth offending worker to be assigned to a family to tackle problems with a child's behaviour and also offer practical support on housing, employment, education and debt.
The scheme is being funded by a £20,000 grant from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), as well as £10,000 from Somer Community Housing Trust and £10,000 from Knightstone Housing Association.
Councillor Chris Watt, who is the cabinet member for children's services at Bath and North East Somerset Council, said the money would go a long way to helping young people in need. He said: "The area's youth offending team are working hard to prevent young people from offending. B&NES Council wants to improve the life chances of disadvantaged children and young people and schemes like the Family Intervention Project will provide valuable support to help people get back on track.
"We also hope that the whole community will benefit as we tackle anti-social behaviour."
The youth offending team is a multi-agency organisation made up of staff from B&NES Council, NHS B&NES, the police, the probation service and Connexions. Such schemes have proved successful in other areas of the country and those involved are confident that the same thing will happen in B&NES.
Lorraine Woolston, assistant director of tenancy services at Somer, said the intervention work should have a positive knock-on effect for the rest of the community. She said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this DCSF funding, and are looking forward to working with our partners on the project. As we work closely with communities every day to help improve their neighbourhoods, housing associations are often best placed to deliver projects like this in partnership with other agencies. This is an approach that has been used to great effect elsewhere and is proven to help and support families and reduce anti-social behaviour.
"It will save money in the long run by either reducing the time spent
on dealing with the effects of anti-social behaviour within
neighbourhoods or reducing the need for other agencies to get involved
such as the criminal justice system, the police or children's services."
9 February 2010
