Gang hotspots failing to confront young people's health issues
Neil Puffett
Thursday, October 31, 2013
More than 80 per cent of England's gang "hotspots" have no strategy in place to tackle the health problems that contribute to youth and gang violence, according to a report.
The government identified that health and wellbeing boards, which came into force in April, had a crucial role to play in addressing the issue in its 2011 report, Ending Gang and Youth Violence.
Because the boards bring together the NHS, public health, adult social care and children’s services to plan local strategy, the firm belief was that they are well placed to address mental health, alcohol and substance misuse problems that can contribute to gang involvement.
However, a study by crime prevention charity Catch22 and consultancy firm MHP Health has found that the overwhelming majority of boards in 33 “hotspot” areas identified by the Home Office have not included plans to tackle youth violence and gangs in their strategies.
Although 70 per cent of the authorities considered the issue of youth violence and gang crime in their joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA), only 18 per cent (six authorities) featured plans to tackle the problem in their joint health and wellbeing strategy (JHWS).
“Our research suggests fragmentation between local health assessments and the strategies prepared for improving outcomes,” the report states.
“Barking and Dagenham’s JSNA made a recommendation to commissioners to put forward initiatives that would prevent ‘young people from getting involved in crime (particularly gangs and gang-related activities), through targeted anti-gang strategies and the establishment of a gangs unit’.
“However, this recommendation is not reflected in the area’s JHWS.
“Ealing’s JSNA also states that: ‘There is a need to coordinate action across all forms of violence prevention, particularly the adoption of a life course approach to preventing gang and serious youth violence in Ealing’. Similarly, this is not reflected in the local area’s JHWS.”
However, five of the six health and wellbeing boards that outlined measures to tackle the issue in their strategies - Hammersmith and Fulham, Knowsley, Nottingham, Southwark, and Westminster – told researchers that they would be prioritising youth and gang violence.
Nottingham’s board has set out plans to develop a single inter-agency database of families that are involved with a number of community safety programmes and services, to ensure appropriate support is provided.
In Westminster, the board’s strategy underlines the importance of targeting action at young people living in the most deprived wards who do not take full advantage of the services available to them.
The board has also agreed to commission research specifically into the mental health and wellbeing needs of young people involved or affiliated with gang-related violence.
Among other things, it will look at possible prevention strategies and school-based programmes to reduce violence.
The report concludes that “further progress” must be made on the government’s assertion that gang and youth violence be dealt with as a public health issue.
It makes a total of 12 recommendations, including that:
• Government should continue to publish annual progress reports on the implementation of the Ending Gang and Youth Violence initiative.
• The Department of Health requests that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) develops public health guidance on tackling youth violence
• Public Health England, should conduct further research to explore how an evidence-based public health approach can be used to tackle youth and gang violence
• Health and wellbeing boards should ensure their joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies are publicly available for analysis and scrutiny
• Health and wellbeing boards in the 33 target areas should consider prioritising youth and gang violence in strategies and public health commissioning plans
• Boards should include a representative from the criminal justice community as a sitting board member
• The Home Office should require that local ending gangs and youth violence teams report annually to their local health and wellbeing boards
• Health and wellbeing boards in the 33 target areas should consider using their role to promote multi-agency working to address youth and gang violence, including the use of pooled budgets and joint commissioning plans
Ben Nunn, who led the research at MHP Health, said: “The government’s health reforms have given significant new powers to communities to improve the wellbeing of their local populations.
“Health and wellbeing boards have rightly been identified as the champions for this agenda.
“Taking a public health approach to tackling youth and gang violence does not offer all the answers to this complex and multi-faceted problem, but it does provide an opportunity to use public health funding in a more flexible way.
“The government should continue to work with these boards to provide them with the support, guidance and resource they need to take this agenda forward.”
Chris Wright, chief executive of Catch22, said the powers available to health and wellbeing boards allow them to provide alternatives to gang life.
He added that progress is being made on the agenda.
“The report shows the significant strides local authorities and newly formed health and wellbeing boards are already taking to bring the NHS and criminal justice communities closer together,” he said.