Goal: To reduce reoffending
Funding: Joint funding through Leicester City and Leicestershire CountyCouncil's youth offending services
Contact: 0116 260 3706
The Short Term Interventions Project operates in the Leicestershire areaand relies on volunteers to offer one-to-one support and training tochildren who have offended, aged between 10 and 17.
Children offered support are those on their final warning. The emphasisis on addressing the reasons behind the crime and for children and youngpeople to understand the implications for victims.
Since its launch six years ago the project has grown from just 10volunteers to 60, and among the services it offers is a signpostingservice to inform children about agencies offering specialist support.It also offers an appropriate adult scheme, where volunteers are on handto attend police stations with young people.
Leicestershire youth offending service's team manager Tracy Green says:"The volunteers are a broad mix. Some are those who have offended in thepast, while for others it is because they want to pursue a career inhelping young people and want the experience."
Following the success of the scheme, a sister project aimed at moreserious offenders - who are either at the final warning stage or oncourt orders - was launched three years ago.
Called the Intervention Team Mentoring Project, this takes a morelong-term view, offering support over a period of a year and focusing onthe reasons behind the child's offending.
Green adds: "Some of the cases can be difficult and so this requiresmore time to look at the causes of the behaviour."
This year both the short- and long-term projects were rated as"outstanding" in the Howard League for Penal Reform's CommunityProgramme Awards.
What next: Among innovations being developed is a peer pressure boardgame. And through the short-term project a volunteer mentor scheme forparents has been launched, for which both the youth offending serviceshope to recruit more volunteers.
