£10m youth violence prevention scheme launches
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
A £10m funding initiative to back programmes that support families to keep children safe and divert them away from violent crime has been launched.
The funding will back parenting programmes in England and Wales, including those for foster carers and residential care workers, to help parents and children develop positive behaviours.
Family therapy schemes, initiatives to reduce conflict between parents and children, as well as domestic abuse prevention programmes will also be backed.
The fund, called A supportive home - helping families to overcome challenges, has been launched jointly by charities Youth Endowment Fund and Comic Relief following a four-month consultation.
This involved more than 450 people, including community and youth workers, teachers, police officers and social workers.
According to the charities the consultation highlighted a need to focus on family support and tackle challenges in young people's lives such as domestic abuse, substance misuse and where relatives are involved in crime.
Young people told the charities they wanted to ensure the programmes were available to all children in need of help, including those in care.
Today we've published the scope for our next grant round in partnership with @comicrelief. We'll be investing up to £10m in family support programmes to learn more about how they can help prevent children becoming involved in violence.
— Youth Endowment Fund (@YouthEndowFund) August 10, 2021
Find out more: https://t.co/zOX5G8Sfdt pic.twitter.com/b93hV5iiwc
“Early intervention with families who need support can have a dramatic effect on the lives of young people,” said Comic Relief chief executive Samir Patel.
“We’re really excited that this programme has been co-designed with young people, they have used their experiences and knowledge and identified the services they would like to see delivered, alongside advice from expert key workers.
“Everyone deserves the best start in life and I hope these new programmes and outreach services will help transform the lives of thousands of people.”
Youth Endowment Fund executive director Jon Yates added: “This investment with our partners at Comic Relief gives us a unique opportunity to learn how we can best help families of all different types.
“Then we can use that learning to make sure children who have often experienced adversity very early in their lives are given the services and support they need to keep safe from involvement in violence.”
The funding package has been welcomed by children’s commissioner for England Rachel de Souza.
She said: “It seems to me there is a growing understanding in society that supporting the family, and supporting it early, is the way to tackle a myriad of social problems.
“For me this is particularly important because children tell me this themselves.”
Applications for grants to support programmes open on 27 September.
