MOPAC
YOUTH JUSTICE BOARD - SOUTH LONDON RESETTLEMENT CONSORTIUM
Deliverables: Sustainable Core Redesign • Trauma-Informed Organisational Systems
Following the introduction of the Police and Crime Plan in 2013, the Mayor of London committed to delivering a “rehabilitation revolution” by improving the treatment and resettlement of offenders and by cutting reoffending rates, particularly for young people. The Mayor set London’s criminal justice agencies a specific target of reducing the reoffending rate of young people leaving custody in London by 20 % (from a baseline of 70.8 %).
“This programme is simply a paradigm shift for our service. And you have made it so simple that I did not realise that my practice has already changed. Thank you.”
The Challenge
130%
of contracted participants for the programme achieved
INITIATING AND IMPLEMENTING TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES TO YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS AND SERVICES
The research project undertaken on their behaviour provided evidence that most of the young people in such cohorts were exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress. The case managers and staff in the youth offending teams and services did not know much about trauma and its impact on the young people's behaviour.
Indeed, Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and Services attested - through a research project undertaken by a London University - that the type of young people they were seeing coming through the court systems were more problematic than had been the case in the past.
The YOTs and services also recognised that by the time these young people were going through the youth justice system, the young people had a significant footprint in offending behaviour, appeared more entrenched and were less fearful of being in custody. If anything, most of the cohorts of such young people had spent time in youth custody and youth offender institutes twice or more.
The YOTs needed to provide case managers with a more in-depth appreciation of how traumatic experiences in cohorts of young people were impacting the children and young people's behaviour. Additionally, the YOTs needed for their staff to better understand the effect of working with people with significant trauma in their past, on the staff themselves.
Further, the youth offending teams, and services' policies, procedures and systems appeared unsuited to addressing the needs of the cohorts of young people.
“Our service has simply been transformed. The kids will know that we have their interests at heart. Your notion of compassion resonates with me so much. I have been trying to work in that way for a long time, but I did not know how to do this. Now it’s clear as day!”
18%
the rate to which rearrest was reduced during the 20 weeks young people engaged the programme
The Solution
REDESIGNING CORE PRINCIPLES AND DRIVERS TO AFFECT NEW PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES
We adapted the iCoN trauma awareness programme to introduce the case managers from the Youth Offending Teams and Services to trauma-informed practice and approaches. The design of the programme was simultaneously a robust theory-based programme and was work-based as well as immediately applicable. The designed solution was to train a designated number of case managers from across the Consortium members using collaborative learning, evidence-based biopsychosocial underpinnings, enhancing practice-based insights and real-time implementation within each participant's workload.
The design further allowed the participants to identify bespoke solutions for their praxis and individual young people that they were supervising. Yet, in their collaborative learning sets, the participants identified and implemented the systemic and changes to make their praxis and services more trauma-informed and attachment-based. Subsequent stakeholder training was suggested and implemented to support the ethos of the iCoN programme's definition of trauma-informed practice:
An organisation-wide presumption that all people who come in contact with the service have trauma in their past and with that presumption, amend and adjust all policies, procedures and practices accordingly.
“This is so applicable to my past. I always wondered why I seemed to understand these kids and wanted so much better for them. I can see how I went through the same things in my life. It would have been easier for me and many other people around me if they had known this stuff. It could have saved a lot of headaches for a lot of people, me especially.”
Our Impact
• Adoption of iCon model by 5 out of 6 local authorities
• Reduction in young people in the secure youth estate
• Reduction in staff absence
• More positive feedback from young people
The Result
BETTER INSIGHT, BETTER RESPONSE, BETTER OUTCOMES
Achieved 130% of the contracted participants for the programme.
Five of the six participating local authorities decided to and started to implement trauma-informed and attachment-based approaches in their policies and procedures using the iCoN model.
Successful inspection result for one of the participating teams.
Remediation strategy for another team with a failed inspection.
Reduction in the numbers of young people ending up in the secure youth estate because of breach orders.
Reduction in staff absence due to vicarious traumatic exposure, burnout and compassion fatigue. Greater use of out-of-court settlements.
Young people were reporting more positively about their experience of Youth Justice Services and staff.
“Simply the best training I have ever had in more than twenty years of training at work.”
Eager To Establish Your Own Trauma- Informed Practice Environment?
Let Tipe help you adopt and apply Trauma- Informed & Attachment-Based principles as an integral part of your organisation.