E-bulletin, Issue 12, April 2014

The future’s bright for CYCJ - we’ve now published our 2014-2016 strategy, supported by an annual work plan to help us progress our outcomes. This was informed by our stakeholder survey undertaken in January 2014, so thanks to everyone who took the time to complete this. We’re very excited about what lies ahead, and will be sure to keep you updated on our progress.

Our new look continues, with the next phase of the forthcoming revamp of our CYCJ website.  Again, in this we have listened to our stakeholders to produce a site that’s hopefully more accessible and easier to use to find what you’re looking for. Please get in touch via cycj@strath.ac.uk if you have any feedback you’d like to share.

Yesterday’s Engage with Strathclyde event was a great success. ‘No offence to neds’ led to some lively and inspired debate, and we were delighted to have such an informed panel joining us to support it.

This month we welcome Yvonne Robson to the team. Yvonne will be working with us as a temporary consultant to work on the Children and Young People's Act, and transitions between youth and adult justice services. We’re pleased to welcome her, and look forward to progressing these important priorities.

We were sad to say goodbye to Stephanie Smith this month. Stephanie’s contribution as Research Fellow has included the Pathways into Polmont project, which will be published in August. We wish her the very best with her future career.

The next few months are looking busy, with several of the team presenting at conferences across the UK. We’ll also be introducing our new and improved guidance for practice and reporting back on some of our major research projects, so watch this space for further updates.

To make sure we’re getting the right information to you at the right time, our monthly e-bulletin is now the main source of information for details of all upcoming events and news. If you’d like to find out more about what we’re offering, please check the e-bulletin, website or Twitter account.  So please make sure you read to the end! If you have any feedback you’d like to give us about how we can do things better, please get in touch at cycj@strath.ac.uk.

As always, happy reading!

Claire Lightowler
CYCJ Director

The Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice has published its 2014-2016 Strategy. This sets out a vision of a Scotland where all individuals and communities are safe and flourish; and where Scottish youth justice practice, policy and research is internationally renowned and respected.

CYCJ contributes to this vision by developing, supporting and understanding youth justice in Scotland, and through seeking and sharing learning internationally.

The strategy is supported by an annual workplan, approved by the Scottish Government, which details what CYCJ will do in 2014/15 to advance the outcomes identified. Read more.

Claire Lightowler, Director of the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice (CYCJ), and Beth Weaver of the University of Strathclyde’s School of Social Work and Social Policy have been awarded a £21,020 contract for an action research project with Glasgow City Council.

The study will use qualitative methods to work with Glasgow Women’s community justice centre, Tomorrow’s Women, and related stakeholders to understand and improve the processes, dynamics and experiences of co-production. Read more.

CYCJ’s high risk mental health youth project is making impressive progress.

The IVY (Interventions for Vulnerable Youth) project has received a high number of referrals, gained a new logo and been the subject of several presentations across the UK, delivered by the IVY team.

These include:

Psychologist Leanne Gregory and Heather Irving, who is a Practice Development Advisor, presented at the NOTA Scotland conference, which took place on April 29 and April 30 in Stirling.

The conference featured workshops and keynote speeches on themes such as The Good Lives Model: working with individuals with learning disabilities who sexually offend; mentalisation based therapies; working with girls who sexually abuse; adolescent sexting; using mindfulness in practice and case formulation.

Leanne Gregory will join CYCJ psychologist Lorraine Johnstone in speaking about the IVY project and managing high risk youth with complex case presentations at the upcoming European Association for Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (EFCAP) conference next month.  The conference, taking place in Manchester, is focussed on youth, risk and mental health and the various paths to recovery.  The IVY service model can contribute to discussions on innovative and evidence based interventions and recovery.

The IVY team also welcomes Fiona Burslem, who joins the project this month as a part-time Honorary Assistant Psychologist.

Following CYCJ’s ‘Restorative Practice in the Aftermath of Serious Crime: Examination of the evidence and identification of learning for practice’ conference on February 10, a follow-up questionnaire was circulated to delegates. This sought to develop a fuller picture of restorative justice skills across Scotland, the location of trained practitioners and the appetite for practice development.

You can view a summary of the findings here.

Yvonne Robson joins the team as a temporary consultant in supporting our children and young people agenda.

In her role, Yvonne will focus on two projects: 'Preparedness for the Children and Young People's Act' and 'Transitions between youth and adult justice services'. For both projects, she will undertake work that will identify best practice and barriers to achieving these outcomes.

In this month’s Briefing Paper, Psychologist Leanne Gregory looks at mental health difficulties in the youth justice population, against the context of the IVY (Interventions for Vulnerable Youth) project, whilst the Factsheet gives an overview of Scottish Government guidance on reintegration and transitions.

View them here.

Well done to the CYCJ runners, who successfully completed the Balfron 10k on April 27, and raised almost £300 for Aberlour Children’s Charity.

The team tackled the hilly course in good spirits, and there was even some sunshine to spur them along!

Thank you to everyone who made a donation, your support was much appreciated.  There’s still time if you’ve yet to do so! Click here to make a secure online donation.  If you’d prefer to donate money another way, please email cycj@strath.ac.uk.

Implementing a new foster care service

CYCJ is involved in researching the implementation of a new foster care service, headed by Renfrewshire Council.

Multidimensional treatment foster care is aimed at couples and individuals who want to help young people get back on their feet and can provide treatment foster care placements in their own home. In return, carers will receive up to £30,000, full training, holiday allowance and regular breaks.

Find out more. Please spread the word amongst your contacts about this service.

Looking back

‘No offence to neds: Exploring public perceptions and media reporting of young people involved in offending’ resulted in some interesting debate about the role of the media in today’s society.

Presentations given by David Leask, Chief Reporter at The Herald, and Nina Vaswani, CYCJ Research Fellow, were followed by a spirited discussion and debate session. Joining David Leask on the panel were Pete White, founder of ‘Positive Prisons? Positive Futures’…, Louise Hill, Policy Lead at CELCIS; Stephen Birrell, Chairperson of Dennistoun Community Council and David Orr, Practice Development Advisor with CYCJ. Some of the many issues covered included the importance of challenging ‘lazy journalism’; differences between English and Scottish media reporting and the age of criminal responsibility.

Look out for further coverage of the event in the Raising Youth Justice blog.

The recent CYCJ networking events for ‘What works for girls and young women’ in Ayr and Dundee were well attended. Delegates enjoyed a day of discussion, ideas and inspiration on improving practice with vulnerable girls and young women. A number of priority areas were identified, which will be fed back to the VGYW Champions Group. 

Heather Irving and David Orr found out more about the role that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) might have in relation to facilitating training, learning and professional development. They attended the recent session to see what applications MOOCs may have in the youth justice sector.

David says: “It is fair to say that “the jury is out” as to what role MOOCs will play in higher education over the course of the next few years, but for practitioners interested in taking advantage of some free learning opportunities it is worth signing up to www.futurelearn.com to sample a MOOC for themselves.”

Coming up…

National Youth Justice Conference 2014

A high volume of applications have been received for the two day conference, taking place on June 4 and 5 in Dundee. These are currently being sifted, and successful applicants will be notified week beginning May 12.

Safer Lives training opportunity

CYCJ plan to run a two day Safer Lives training course in Glasgow. This is relevant for anyone involved with assessment and interventions with children and young people under the age of 18 involved with harmful sexual behaviour or sexual offending behaviour (e.g. youth justice practitioners, criminal justice social workers, residential staff, children and family practitioners). 

The model may be of interest to professionals working with other client groups who want to consider which elements of the approach are transferable to their own practice. Although training in this model has been offered in many local authorities over the last five years, we are keen to offer a training course for those who may not have been able to access it. If you are interested, please forward your details to cycj@strath.ac.uk.

Divert Conference: May 19

Find out how you can help divert young people away from serious crime by attending the Divert Conference on May 19 at Tulliallan Scottish Police College.

Keynote speakers, including Sir Stephen House QPM, Chief Constable Police Scotland, and Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, will discuss why they are committed to diverting young people away from organised crime. Find out more.

Barnardo’s Plan-B , which has been supporting young men in Polmont and young women in Cornton-Vale for over three years, will conclude next month. Over 250 individuals have benefited from the service, which acted as a bridge between the community and prison and supported young people to make the best use of the opportunities available in prison and prepare for their liberation. Read more from Barnado’s.

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and Curriculum for Excellence are central to improving outcomes for Scotland’s children and young people. The Scottish Government has developed a wellbeing-focused guide for early years establishments and schools, aimed at supporting professional dialogue and self-evaluation. Find out more and download the guide.

Young offenders in Nottinghamshire benefit from cooking a meal for firefighters. Do you know of any youth justice programmes with a difference?

CYCJ now has a group on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. To join for updates and discussions, search for us and request to join.