Sandwell Youth Offending

Introduction

Sandwell Youth offending Service (YOS) have a multiagency team comprising of professionals, from Children’s and Young people’s health, police and probation, working with young people who are at risk of offending or who offend.

Approach

The head of service wanted to improve the understanding of how to better reach, engage and connect young people from their disproportionate group.

To help them to engage with their existing young people we trained staff members within effective BAME engagement strategies.  Using our years of experience in youth and community engagement strategies delivered using our values-based approach.  We delivered our “How to effectively engage diverse and young people” training to staff members replacing traditional methods, creating an environment that is inspiring, fun, safe and engaging.

Impact

Staff left the training with better understanding of the issues that young people face, they were better informed. The training was a valuable experience for all, many of the key recommendations were taken on board and the head of service has now implemented many changes to re shape the services offered. This includes ongoing consultation with young people and parents, and the provision of activities that would benefit both.