Memorandum submitted by the National Youth
Agency
WHO WE
ARE
The National Youth Agency (NYA) supports those
involved in young people's personal and social development and
works to enable all young people to fulfil their potential within
a just society.
We achieve this by:
— supporting those working with young
people in a variety of settings;
— influencing and shaping youth policy
and improving youth services;
— promoting young people's participation,
influence and place in society;
— improving and extending youth services
and youth work;
— enhancing and demonstrating youth
participation in society; and
— promoting effective youth policy
and provision.
We provide resources to improve work with young
people and its management; create and demonstrate innovation in
services and methods; support the leadership of organisations
to manage change; influence public perception and policy; and
secure standards of education and training for youth work.
YOUTH JUSTICE
AND COMMUNITY
SAFETY PROJECT
The NYA supports 15 projects in a national programme
on Positive Activities for Young People, nearly half of which
are in London. These respond to DCSF priorities with a particular
focus on reducing young people's involvement in street violence,
anti-social behaviour and nuisance activities.
Each area has identified a local champion and
co-ordinator of activities. Work is overseen by a partnership
which includes the youth service, connexions, youth offending
team and voluntary organisations and links to the Local Strategic
Partnership.
Our work also helps to identify effective practice
in Local Authority areas and provide advice and practical guidance
in resolving cross border issues.
We have begun to establish a "knowledge"
bank of effective practice that can link the cross cutting government
agendas involving Every Child Matters (ECM), safeguarding, the
implementation of the 18 Youth Task Force recommendations and
local Crime and Disorder Plans, to get best fit and economies
in delivery.
The national steering group is now considering:
— capacity building for small local,
grass roots organisations;
— commissioning—make the process
simple; and
— young people leading (involvement
and consultation).
OUR SUBMISSION
Causes of knife crime
1. There are growing concerns in the UK
about the increase of gang-related violence and the use of weapons
by young people. Violent weapon crime committed by groups of young
people is not a new phenomenon. At the outset, there is an imperative
to reverse the stereotypes and negative portrayal of young people.
2. The scale of violence and injury is though
of concern, as is the fact that young people are disproportionately
involved, both as perpetrators and victims. However knife crime
is not an isolated issue. The same factors of poverty, neglect,
unemployment and deprivation also feed anti-social behaviour and
other criminal activities.
3. Involvement is often the result of a
gradual process which typically begins with anti-social behaviour
at an early age and might be triggered by a range of risk factors
and/or the absence of protective factors.
4. A range of complex issues surround the
growth in the use of knives by young people under the age of 25.
Research from the UK and US points to a number of factors which
can combine to heighten or reduce the risk of a young person becoming
involved in gangs and street violence Critical risk factors include:
— Detachment from families.
— Absence of or poor/inconsistent parental
support.
— Weak bonds with school and other
institutions.
— High levels of association with delinquent
peers.
— High levels of hopelessness: having
negative expectations about oneself and one's future life.
— Propensity to be impulsive and engage
in risk taking behaviour.
— Living in neighbourhoods where positive
opportunities are few, where social controls are weak, and where
gangs are already embedded.
8. Strategies are needed to address some
of the underlying causes that produce gang related violence. These
involve complex and interlocking factors often specific to certain
neighbourhoods and partnership solutions need to be tailored to
local circumstances. It is clear that a community-based response
is needed to knife crime. Parachuting in responses does not work.
Local models and solutions need to be tailored to take account
of individual circumstances.
Solutions: education, parents and community projects
9. The NYA believes that much greater recognition
should be given to the contribution of youth work and community
based interventions. They provide educational and innovative diversionary
activities for young people involved or at risk of involvement
in gang related street violence, particularly those outside of
the traditional school system.
10. Youth workers are ideally placed to
work with young people "where they are" and in a range
of settings. They are experts in:
— mentoring young people;
— running challenging activity programmes;
and
— supporting young people to put forward
their views.
11. Research[49]
has shown there are a number of risk and protective factors that
influence a young person's decision about whether to join a gang
and these factors can be addressed through the effective youth
work practice. Practice for dealing with gangs and violence is
broadly split between preventing those young people at risk of
becoming involved and working with young people once they are
involved in gangs. The research suggests a seven point gang strategy.
This includes:
— co-ordinated partnership at a local
level including youth justice agencies, mental health, social
care, youth work and education;
— enhancing community relations;
— engaging with gang members;
— targeted protection; and
— school based anti gang initiatives.
What The NYA is calling for
12. Community relations, and the cohesion
of communities is vital in helping address the gang culture and
knife crime in particular. Local authorities must improve their
commissioning processes to ensure that the voluntary and community
sector can work in partnership with communities and young people
themselves.
13. Alongside community workers, there must
be sufficient provision of skilled trained and supported youth
workers to work with young people. Systems must be sufficiently
robust to encourage and ensure the sharing of good practice.
14. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
carried out in tandem with The NYA found that providing street-based
youth work (based on providing one project for an area with a
population of approximately 9,000 young people) for the bottom
half of the most deprived areas in England would cost £142
million in total. This figure, when looked in the context, for
example, of the £450 million spent on the Connexions service
is relatively small.[50]
15. While government has committed to three-year
funding, the length of funding should reflect the longer-term
nature of the interventions and support needed for children, young
people and families involved in or at risk of involvement in knife
crime.
January 2009
49 Pitts, John. University Of Bedford-"Reluctant
gangsters: youth gangs in Waltham Forest" 2007. Back
50
The cost of street based youth work in deprived areas, The Joseph
Rowntree Foundation 2004 http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/costings/664.asp
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