Introduction

On the 1st January 2004, the Partnership and Prevention Team, was formed from the Restorative Justice Unit. The team was formed to widen the partners that work with the Youth Offending Team and to address the Youth Justice Board's target that 200 young people at risk of offending and anti-social behaviour were targeted and worked with for the coming year.

Up to the end of September 2004, the team and partner agencies have undertaken intervention with 370 young people. The following projects and methods have worked with these young people:

• Individual onset support
• group work
• citizenship events
• youth inclusion project
• positive activities for young people
• juvenile referral scheme
• restorative justice in the school environment

There are plans to engage with more targeted young people and a strategy is being put in place to cover all young people of secondary school age in 2005. Once this strategy has been established, the next strategy will be to focus on young people in junior or middle school starting from the age of 8.

Without the support and involvement of partner agencies, this figure could not have been reached, and the high quality of the work has been instrumental in reducing the risk of these young people becoming involved in offending and committing anti-social acts.

The following projects are in the planning stage for 2005 and they include:

• outreach
• build to the future
• music space
• prevention music project
• skills for the future

The Partnership and Prevention Team have developed a good working relationship with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, to help develop adventure training and outdoor pursuit training for young people. This is the first partnership of its kind in the country and the Youth Justice Board has indicated that they will want to use this model as the standard for the whole country.

As of the 1st October 2004, the team has changed its name to the Youth Inclusion Support Team to reflect strategies and policies that have been introduced by the Youth Justice Board.

Make-Up and Duties of the Youth Inclusion Support Team

Mick Nock - Youth Inclusion Support Team Manager

Reuden Dear - Prevention Officer

Sharon Jones - Reparation / Victim Officer

Helen Sansom - Seconded Polie Officer (part-time)

Beth Du Lieu - Seconded Police Officer (part -time)

Paul Webb - RAISE Project Co-Ordinator

Mary Harper - RAISE Project Support Worker

Debbie Longhurst - Reparation Supervisor (part time)

Thomas Clark - Reparation Supervisor (part-time)

Targetted Neighbourhood Prevention Programmes

Click here to read about neighbourhood prevention programmes.