A programme, which the charity runs in Old Trafford, Manchester and hashelped 150 vulnerable 14- to 17-year-olds in the past three years, isfacing closure.
When funding ends in March 2011, Rathbone's director of policy anddevelopment Paul Fletcher is concerned that the transformative workachieved in the area will be undone, and reinstating the project in thefuture will be impossible.
"What's worrying and very noticeable in short-term funded projects isthat they potentially do more harm than good," said Fletcher. "We raiseexpectations of kids, parents and statutory agencies that start to relyon us. When this is undone and the funding is removed, people losetrust."
Funded originally by the Youth Taskforce, which was disbanded inSeptember, the 100,000-a-year project provides one-to-one supportto young people and their families. Many of those involved are youngoffenders, under youth offending team (YOT) supervision, or young peoplewith behavioural or mental health problems.
"If you get funding in six months or a year's time, it's hard tore-engage people," Fletcher explained. "They think: we relied on you andyou disappeared."
Rathbone has built relationships with local magistrates to help achievemore lenient sentences for young people, many of whom have kept to courtorder conditions and achieved GCSE qualifications as a result of thecharity's intervention.
Fletcher's concerns were echoed by Lorna Hadley, chair of theAssociation of Youth Offending Team Managers, who said outcomes weresimilar in YOT services. "We've seen it where we've done intensive workat the start," she said. "You go back a year later with a smaller pot ofmoney and people don't want to take part. It gets harder."
Hadley said it was important for organisations to build exit strategiesas a way of mitigating the risks of future disengagement. But even withthe risks involved with short-term delivery, she said they were morebeneficial than delivering nothing at all.
