Arson
Youth Work and Arson
Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to death and injury by fire, especially in deprived households, and may also cause fires accidentally. Early and effective intervention, diversion and education can reduce crime, improve life chances, develop better citizens and safer communities.
The Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) has demonstrated a strong commitment to working with young people and has devoted considerable time and resources to the task. The work covered includes the Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes and various badge schemes, as well as the Prince's Trust Volunteer schemes. Around two-thirds of fire and rescue services also have Young Firefighter Associations. All these schemes aim to provide basic training in fire-fighting skills, raise awareness of fire safety and improve life skills for the majority of young people.
About 80% of all Fire and Rescue Services also offer interventions for young firesetters and about 20% offer schemes such as LIFE or Project Phoenix. These are aimed at young people at risk or young offenders with a view to reducing anti-social behaviour and arson, reduce attacks on firefighters and help young people get back on track. Work in schools and safety education is of course strongly linked to youth work. At present about half also provide curriculum-based fire safety education and about 80% offer some form of safety education, usually with partners, such as Crucial Crew.
DCLG has been working with the Department of Health, Home Office and Department for Education & Skills to develop a strategy for the FRS for working with children & young people. The Strategy was launched by Fire Minister Angela Smith on 24th October 2006 in Northampton. The work is central to the FRS’s statutory duty to promote fire safety and to DCLG’s PSA 3 targets to reduce accidental fire deaths in the home and incidents of arson. It also contributes to tackling disadvantage, reducing health inequalities and preventing crime.
At the heart of the Strategy is a new commitment to involving children and young people, joint development and delivery with partners, comprehensive evaluation and review of impact, and high quality professional development for staff. It aims to establish FRS provision for children and young people which is focussed on effective risk reduction and is targeted on the disadvantaged and tailored to individual needs.
The development of a youth strategy will involve a range of partners in this field, including government departments, the Youth Justice Board (www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk) and NACRO (www.nacro.org.uk).
Last update: Wednesday, March 28, 2007