Home Office Good Practice Seminars
Young People & Crime
Workshop 4
Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIP)
Debbie Kemp, Consultant, Crime Concern
The workshop was hosted by Debbie Kemp, a Consultant with Crime Concern, Bristol.
YIPs' predecessor was 'Youth Works' a series of projects piloted in Blackburn, Hackney, Leeds, Plymouth and Sunderland in 1995. In 2000 the Youth Justice Board introduced Youth Inclusion Programmes nationwide.
The driver for YIP:
40% of crime occurs in 10% of locations
1500 – 2000 neighbourhoods are blighted by crime
two thirds of serious young offenders are being brought up in these neighbourhoods
It is therefore logical to adopt a directed approach to crime problems.
YIP involves targeting a fixed number of young people (50) in a defined geographical area and allocating a fixed number of intervention hours (250) to support and deter them from criminal activity. Police, YOT, social services, education and other agencies assess young people for YIPs using a score matrix. However, it is important that the identified young people are engaged in the process and so participation is voluntary. To achieve success the process must be transparent, young people have the right to see information held about them. In order to encourage engagement, linking to a mentoring programme is useful in which initial and ongoing support can be provided through mentoring. Volunteer mentors, funded by the YJB, support the Bristol YIPs, their commitment is ensured by the provision of training which leads to an Open College Network (OCN) qualification.
It was emphasised that involvement of participants is key and ensures ownership, thus contributing to success of programmes. Good induction is necessary and incentives may be used to encourage ongoing participation, this can be a contentious issue.
Key points arising from the session
Participants must be targeted correctly.
Schemes must be based on informed consent of the participants.
Schemes must be tailored, intensive and correctly established
Monitoring and evaluating programmes is essential and young people involved in the schemes must be involved in this.
Data protection difficulties arising from identifying participants can be overcome. Information Sharing Protocols should be referred to.
Whilst there is a link to Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs), the voluntary aspect of the schemes was emphasised.
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