The story unfolds | How we help young people
Victim Support has been working to develop and improve its services for young victims of crime since our young victims campaign in February 2003.
The campaign found that 1 in 4 of those questioned had experienced crime in the last twelve months; assault and theft were the most common offences. Across the UK, a greater number of projects and initiatives are helping children and young people - and their parents and carers - cope with effects of crime.
The 'R U OK?' initiative for children and young people run by Victim Support Croydon focuses on assertiveness skills and preventing further crimes. The branch receives referrals for young victims aged between 8 and 14 years; over 500 in 2003 alone. Staff and volunteers work with young people and their parents or carers, and have increased the number of face-to-face sessions by offering home visits and appointments at the branch offices.
"The initiative is empowering young people to recover from crime and take steps to reduce the risk of re-victimisation," says Geraldine Lowe, who is the Youth Project Leader for R U OK?
Since January 2004, a drop-in session has been set up at one of the borough's secondary schools, with one 'open session' at lunchtime and three appointments available during afternoon lessons twice a week. Staff have given both general and more focused personal safety assemblies for all school years, and a video has been made by students to be used as a teaching tool in lessons.
"The drop-in sessions have proved popular, but it sometimes takes time before young people open up," says Geraldine. "They'll usually come to us with one concern and after a few weeks, they'll have more confidence and talk about more serious issues."
Staff and volunteers at Victim Support East Birmingham developed a service for young victims of crime after they noticed a rise in the number of referrals from the police and calls for help from parents of young victims of crime. Since February 2001, the branch has offered a service to vulnerable and 'at risk' victims aged between 13 and 19 as part of its three-year 'Detached youth work' project. Initially set up to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, it is now run by two part-time youth workers.
"Our project focuses on criminal behaviour by persistent young offenders and its impact on victims, and we've benefited enormously from working closely with other youth agencies and the local youth inclusion project," explains branch co-ordinator, Carol McKay. "We've also been able to provide lots of outdoor pursuits and activities, thanks to funding from the Children's Fund. And judging by the results of a recent evaluation of our work, crime by young offenders has dropped in the area covered by the project."
Victim Support East Birmingham also supports young victims of crime from 5 to 18, partly by using craft and art materials, which were bought with funding from The Eveson Trust. The branch has also refurbished its interview room to make it more suitable for work with young people, and has a volunteer with specialist skills and experience of working with children and young people.
An innovative project at Victim Support Hull to help children and young people affected by crime has gone from strength to strength. The scheme, which was set up as a pilot project in November 2002, has been boosted by £120,000 from Hull Children's Fund to help further the work, hopefully until 2006.
"We're currently in contact with up to 100 children and young people every month. Most of these referrals come from the police, but now other agencies are getting involved because we've done so much work to promote the service. Schools and colleges, social services, youth services, Connexions and the NHS have all been keen to help us," says Young Victims of Crime Co-ordinator, Helen Horvath.
Out of those 100 monthly referrals, Helen estimates that 1 in 4 children and young people have direct one-to-one support. Long-term support is offered, particularly for serious crimes, such as bullying and sexual offences, and much attention is paid to rebuilding the victim's confidence and self-esteem in the days, weeks and months after the crime. Victim Support works with the young victim's parents or carers, and liaison work is also carried out with schools and the local education authority.
Children, young people and their families who have used the service are fully involved in its planning and delivery. Questionnaires are regularly sent to families for their suggestions, and the young victims themselves have been asked about how the promotional leaflets should look. Helen adds: "We want to involve people as much as possible. It's great that the leaflets are so child-friendly and being sent out to those who need them. One of the young girls who's been supported has designed a poster, which will be in circulation soon."
Victim Support Cornwall's Anti-bullying in Cornwall (ABC) initiative has grown considerably since it was set up six years ago, and now work is carried out in the county's primary and secondary schools to support children and young people. Extra funding has enabled the ABC initiative to work on a new project in west Cornwall and employ three project workers to provide support and practical help throughout the county.
ABC works closely with schools to help them develop anti-bullying policies and provides input for workshops and anti-bullying days and weeks. The project workers offer training for school staff in dealing with bullying issues and often mediate between parents or guardians of a victim of bullying and teachers to help bring about a satisfactory conclusion. In primary schools, the initiative has been successful in helping establish 'playground pals' who support children through their experiences.
In 2003, staff and volunteers supported more than 120 young victims. Victim Support Cornwall holds an annual conference and is developing a resource manual and information leaflets for young people, parents and schools. Area Manager of Victim Support Cornwall, Sally Piper, says: "ABC is making a very positive impact with the children and young people and importantly, their families are also getting the support and help that they need."
Peter Dunn, who heads the Research and Development Department at Victim Support's National Office, says: "We're encouraged to see that our services are addressing victims' needs, although we need more resources to help us develop this work at local and national level. If young people are offered effective support after a crime, they'll stand a better chance of putting those experiences behind them and grow in confidence as they become adults."
The story unfolds | How we help young people