Youth
Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIPs)
Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIPs), established in 2000, are tailor-made programmes for 8 to 17-year-olds who are at high risk of involvement in crime or anti-social behaviour. YIPs generally work with either the 8-12 age range (Junior YIPs) or the 13-17 (Senior YIPs).
YIPs target young people in a neighbourhood who are considered to be most at risk of offending, but are also open to other young people in the local area. The programme operates in 114 of the most deprived/high crime neighbourhoods in England and Wales.
YIPs aim to reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhoods in which they work. Young people on the YIP are identified through a number of different agencies, including the YOT, police, children and family services, local education authorities or schools, neighbourhood wardens and anti-social behaviour teams.
The programme gives young people somewhere safe to go where they can learn new skills, take part in activities with others and get support with their education and careers guidance. Positive role models – the workers and volunteer mentors – help to change young people's attitudes to crime and anti-social behaviour, and address those factors that put young people at risk of involvement in offending or anti-social behaviour.
Each project contributes to its YOT’s target to reduce the number of first time entrants into the criminal justice system in the YOT area. To do so, YIPs have the following aims:
- to engage with a high proportion of the core group, especially those members deemed most at risk within the group
- to address the risk factors and enhance the protective factors, as identified by ONSET assessments, for the young people with whom it is working
- to increase access for engaged young people to mainstream and specialist services, especially in relation to education, training and employment
- to prevent engaged young people from entering the Criminal Justice System, and to reduce offending of young people already in the system
- to intervene, not just on an individual level, but with communities and families (especially the parents of the core group).
Funding
Each YIP is funded annually by the YJB through YOT prevention grants, and this funding is suplemented by sharing resources with other local agencies. In many areas, programmes also obtain resources from other funding streams (such as Neighbourhood Renewal) which share our aim of reducing crime and supporting communities.
Evaluation
An independent national evaluation of the first three years of the programme found that:
- arrest rates for the 50 young people considered to be most at risk of crime in each YIP went down by 65%
- of those who had offended before joining the programme, 73% were arrested for fewer offences after engaging with a YIP
- of those who had not offended previously but who were at risk, 74% did not go on to be arrested after engaging with a YIP.
For more information about YIPs, visit http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/practitioners/Prevention/YIP/
Last update: Wednesday, September 03, 2008