MPs call for investment in youth workers to prevent knife crime

The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on knife and violent crime reduction said the money is needed to ensure youth services can offer specialist support to the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. 

The APPG also wants to see youth services work more closely with charities to deliver such specialist support, a new report said.

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It looked at ways that youth services are already successfully addressing youth crime, with a strong focus on offering support as soon as a violent incident has occurred.

This includes the charity Redthread’s youth violence intervention programme (YVIP), which embeds youth workers in hospital A&E departments across London and the Midlands.

🚨New report from APPG for Knife Crime and Violence Reduction🚨

At its best, youth work can help prevent violence and support young people to thrive. But it can't achieve this without investment in the profession and the workforce.

Read it here ➡️ https://t.co/mwwIjOh05s pic.twitter.com/u1Pelumw0J

— Redthread (@Redthreadyouth) March 10, 2020

“The teams take referrals from doctors and nurses to work with young victims of violence,” details the APPG report on the YVIP scheme.

“Their unique positioning in A&E means that youth work support is available to the young person at the point of crisis.”

Redthread chief executive John Poyton added: “Youth work can support these young people to thrive in the face of adversity and prevent exploitation and violence.

“But it cannot achieve this without investment in developing the profession and the workforce.”

The timing of support, just after a violent incident, is particularly important as that can be a “teachable moment”, says the APPG report, where young people are better able to question the circumstances and behaviour that led to them being treated in hospital.

The APPG says that such work is vital to supporting vulnerable young people at risk of or involved in crime as well as freeing up doctors and nurses.

“However, a key finding of the APPG was that it was impossible to deliver this type of specialised work unless there is investment in and development of the workforce.

“This work is high risk, requires knowledge of how to effectively work with often vulnerable young people, and an understanding of how to support those who have suffered trauma.”

The APPG on knife crime and violence reduction involves more than 70 MPs and peers and is managed by Redthread and Barnardo’s.

“Too many children are left vulnerable to gangs who promise protection, a source of income, and a sense of belonging that they’re not getting elsewhere,” said Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan.

“Barnardo’s has long warned that the reduction in youth workers and safe spaces over many years has contributed to a ‘poverty of hope’ among young people who see little or no chance of a positive future. 

“The government has promised to invest in youth centres and mobile facilities, which is a welcome start. But we also need long-term, sustainable investment in children and young people’s services overall to help keep vulnerable children out of A&E and the criminal justice system, and to help them achieve a positive future.”

APPG chair Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon Central, added: “Policing and enforcement will always be important, but there is clear evidence that we can achieve better outcomes if government prioritises investment in preventing violence.”