The Young People We Support
Our target client group are persistent young offenders. Over half are aged between 15 and 17 – the age group that straddles the Children’s Hearing and adult justice systems. Their lives are often chaotic, with high levels of drugs and alcohol misuse and self-harm.
We also support children (and their families) as young as 11 and will continue to provide relapse prevention support to young people into their early 20s.
Almost all young people referred to us come from seriously disadvantaged backgrounds, with family problems and a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Many have been well known to social work services and the Children’s Hearing System from an early age and have been looked after in residential settings or on supervision requirements.
By 15–16, they have often exhausted child care services. Many have had spells in custody, secure accommodation, young offenders’ institutions, mental hospitals or homeless accommodation. Many older teenagers have been rejected by their family or their family are dysfunctional, chaotic or abusive. They have little experience of good adult role models and often have little trust in adults.