VRU holds criminal justice learning event to highlight emerging best practise and innovation

The online event highlighted emerging best practise and innovation from criminal justice projects across Greater Manchester. The event aimed to enable participants to understand links between violence and childhood experiences, understand the value of lived experience mentoring to rehabilitate and reduce levels of violence, and understand how a trauma responsive approach identifies children and young adults who may be involved in crime and who are not visible to statutory services.

Discussions also took place on using practitioner-based commissioning models to remove barriers and reduce levels of violence.

A range of providers led the event and shared their experiences, successes, and challenges to encourage partnership learning.

Find out more about each of the providers below.

 

• Coaching Inside and Out (CIAO) help clients change their own lives and improve the lives of others by providing time, support and space to think and make decisions. Coaching and training is provided for people in the criminal justice system, their families, and staff working with them. Coaches help clients find their own way to change what they want, as people know their lives better than anyone else does. CIAO list 5 keys to coaching;

1. Work as equals to help clients identify the best approach for them
2. Work to an agenda set by the client
3. Help clients move forward by asking questions rather than answering them
4. Give no advice nor do anything on a client’s behalf
5. Challenge as well as support

Many clients who had lost hope or felt they had no options, have been able to take a proactive approach and transform their thinking and their lives. Clients have:

• Engaged with education, got jobs and set up their own businesses
• Improved their health and reduced their use of medication, alcohol and illegal drugs
• Understood, restored and strengthened relationships
• Reduced violence and self-harm by managing emotions and seeing others’ perspectives

Find out more about CIAO here – Coaching Inside and Out (CIAO) | Unlocking potential since 2010.

 

• Achieve North West Connect delivers multiple criminal justice contracts across the North West including the Violence Reduction Partnerships (VRP) Personal Fund. The fund is available to 18–25-year-olds on probation who are at risk of violent offences or further offending. The funding is intended to uplift and enhance people’s life chances and provide them with support for their employment, education and training goals.

Since going live in May 2021, 74 successful applications have been received. Funding has been provided for bikes, laptops, ID and PPE clothing.

Out of these 74 people, 10 are now in employment, 4 are currently job searching and 25 have completed or are currently in training.

Referrals to the fund are made via probation practitioners or partner agencies.

Find out more here –  Achieve North West Connect (ANWC) – Career Connect

 

• Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit PIED Programme is designed to scan police data on a daily basis looking for children who are named as suspects in crime, it then takes a look at the child in a trauma responsive way and ensures that we treat the child as a child first and suspect second.

Many children enter the criminal justice system by being named as suspects, but their childhood experiences are not always considered, and they may be invisible to services such as Early Help.

The PIED programme works with stakeholders to identify who is best placed to engage with the child and create the trusted adult relationship needed to cope with trauma.

 

• Dignifi was set up to raise awareness about how emotional and developmental trauma impacts upon people’s emotions and behaviours – with a focus on supporting frontline practitioners to better understand and respond to young people in the care system and people in the criminal justice system.

Dignifi train and support practitioners to deliver a self-development programme that helps people who have experienced trauma understand what has happened to them and how to manage their responses better. They also advise organisations on how to develop more supportive environments for their staff to help them deliver such complex and emotionally challenging work over the long-term.

Dignifi have supported Sosa through his journey. Watch this short video to hear his story:

Find out more – DIGNIFI – Trauma Informed Practice.

 

The event was a real demonstration of commitment from Greater Manchester to improve the lives of those affected by crime and reduce levels of violence in our communities.

Following the event, the Violence Reduction Unit have taken a series of recommendations and actions away to continue our mission to improve the criminal justice system’s response to violence. The learning reinforced our view that the Violence Reduction Unit must place the community at the heart of its work, and we look forward to similar events in the future.

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Article posted on: 22/04/2022 10:04am