Youth Inclusion Programme (YIP)
In 2000, the Youth Justice Board established the Youth Inclusion Programme. The programme operates in 72 areas in England and Wales.
The Youth Inclusion Programme targets a core group of 13 to 16-year-olds who are engaged in crime or identified as being most at risk of offending, truancy, or social exclusion.
These young people are identified through a multi-agency consultation process, drawing on input from the Youth Offending Team (YOT), police, social services, local education authorities or schools, other local agencies and the community. Individual YIPs also work with a wider group of young people.
The objective of the Youth Inclusion Programme is to reduce youth crime in the targeted neighbourhoods. To do this, each YIP has the following targets:
- To ensure that at least 75% of the core group (the 50 most at-risk young people) are engaged, and that those engaged receive, on average, at least five hours of appropriate interventions per week
- To reduce arrest rates among the core group by 70%, compared with the 12 months before their engagement
- To ensure that 90% of those in the engaged core group are in suitable full-time education or employment.
Each YIP receives an annual grant from the Youth Justice Board, and is required to find at least an equal amount in matched funding from local agencies. In many areas, YIPs also obtain resources from funding streams (such as Neighbourhood Renewal) with complementary objectives.
Government funding for the Youth Inclusion Programme is secured up to 2008. This represents a strong vote of confidence in the programme on the part of the government, which has recognised the contribution that YIPs are making to the most needy neighbourhoods.
The independent evaluation of YIP in 2003 praised the Youth Justice Board for “designing and funding an innovative and coherent programme” and noted that “the majority of the top 50 are being arrested less since their engagement on the programme, and for less serious offences.”
South Tyneside YIP
South Tyneside Youth Inclusion Programme is based, with the Junior Youth Inclusion Programme, within the Young People’s Development Programmes in Gaskell Ave, Biddick Hall, South Shields.
The YIP, which began in 2001, has received national recognition as an example of best practice. South Tyneside YIP is innovative in the designing of thematic projects such as ThinkDrink! (See more about ThinkDrink! on the ThinkAbout Awards page)
South Tyneside YIP works in partnership with a number of agencies such as the Youth Offending Service, Police, Local Education Authority, Youth Service, Social Services and Education Welfare. Such partnership working provides the identification of young people who may have risk factors and need additional support, however our YIP is an inclusive programme and encourages all children and young people in its neighbourhood to participate in YIP interventions and school holiday provision focusing on personal and social development.
The YIP has various weekly interventions based in schools, youth organisations, community (detached work), and school holiday provision. These include projects looking at themes such as healthy eating and fitness, smoking workshops; the environment; substance use; sexual health etc. All of the projects are designed to support the themes identified in the Every Child Matters government green paper as well as the Youth Matters paper and the objectives for children identified by the Children’s Fund.
South Tyneside Youth Inclusion Programme is currently funded until March 2008
FAQ's
- Are there other YIPs in South Tyneside?
- No, not presently, however we are currently applying for funding to set up YIP’s in other areas of South Tyneside.
- How do you start a career working with the Youth Inclusion Programme?
- New posts often arise in the Prevention Programmes; we usually ask for qualified and/or experienced people to apply. If you do not yet have the required qualifications or experience, an alternative route is to become a volunteer with the Youth Inclusion Programme. Both staff and volunteers are given full training to support personal development.
- Do YIPs only work with those young people who offend?
- No Yips are an inclusion programme and encourage participation from all children and young people within the catchment area.
- How is my child on the target group?
- The referring agency will have identified some risk factors that mean your child meets the criteria for referral. This is nothing to worry about. Many young people are simply going through a difficult phase which may mean that they are simply bored, or hanging about and being noticed by the police or sometimes not attending school as regularly as they should. It certainly doesn’t mean that your child is a criminal.
- Is it legal for agencies to share information about my child
- Prevention programmes are covered by section 115 of the Crime and Disorder act 1998 and section 29 of the Data Protection Act. These acts allow the referral information to be shared with us. However all information that we receive is securely stored and we do not reveal information to other agencies unless there is a clear reason to do so. e.g. if a young person is at risk of harm.
