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A pioneering approach to breaking the destructive cycle of children caught up in, or at risk of, crime that is being trialled in Middlesbrough should be adopted across the UK according to an influential national report.
/ SHiFT in South Tees launch event at Kirkleatham Walled Garden. 25/9/2024. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/SHiFT
Over the last nine months Middlesbrough Council has partnered with national charity SHiFT to work differently with children and young people at greatest risk of crime and exploitation.
Together the Council and SHiFT have created SHiFT Middlesbrough, a Practice of highly skilled Middlesbrough professionals who are providing intensive, consistent, personalised support to children and young people for at least 18 months – doing whatever it takes to set them up for safe and bright futures.
SHiFT currently works alongside 121 children and their families in five practices across the UK, including 27 in Middlesbrough, with impressive results for the 108 children who have completed the Programme to date including:
· Arrests down by 51%
· Proven offences reduced by 41%
· Reported missing episodes down by 58%
The organisation’s work also helps to cut costs by reducing the need for more expensive social care placements and alternative education provision.
Middlesbrough Council’s partnership with SHiFT costs around £11,000 per young person for an 18-month period of support, with analysis showing that every £1 spent on the Programme leads to a saving of £8 over a five-year period.
Now the influential Times Commission on Crime and Justice has urged the nationwide adoption of SHiFT’s approach, with praise for its long-term social and economic benefits.
The report showcases the SHiFT Programme as part of its ten-point plan for crime and justice reform, published this week (Monday, April 14).
The Commission spent a day with SHiFT Middlesbrough to learn about local partnership working and the difference the Practice is already making to children, families and communities in Middlesbrough.
SHiFT Chair and Times Commissioner Martin Griffiths said: “I’m especially pleased that the Commission took the time to examine the work of SHiFT and its impact on supporting the vulnerable groups so often failed by ‘business as usual’.
“SHiFT has shown that it is possible to work relationally – with children and their families – in ways that foster cohesion, restore self-belief, and drive lasting change.
“This approach offers a blueprint for how public services can design thoughtful, holistic systems of care – systems that heal not just individuals, but the fractured organisational relationships that arise when institutions lose sight of their shared mission: to protect and uplift vulnerable children by working together, not in isolation or opposition.”
Sophie Humphreys, one of SHiFT’s founders who gave evidence to the Commission, added: “When we over-simplify people as good or bad or victim or perpetrator, we lose the opportunity to find a ‘hook’ that can help someone move from one place to another.
“SHiFT gives children, families and the people who are there to support them, the opportunity to redress this balance.
“It starts with the child and gets into the depths of their world, the grey areas, strengths and difficulties, and begins to help shape a new future with and alongside them.
“We need the Government to back this work wholesale so that every child across the country who ends up at the wrong end of the continuum can be supported with time and tenacity to live a safe and bright future.”
SHiFT’s work in Middlesbrough contributes to the Council’s priority of having safe and resilient communities and is part funded by government.
Welcoming the findings of the Times Commission, Cllr Philippa Storey, Middlesbrough Deputy Mayor and Executive member for Education & Culture, said: “SHiFT’s intensive work changes young lives for the better, and we’re already seeing the results less than a year after creating this ground-breaking partnership.
“The sort of tailored support the programme delivers is helping some of those in the greatest need make the sort of critical changes that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
“That sort transformation is quite simply priceless and benefits each and every one of us.
“I’m delighted that the Times Commission has recognised the powerful and lasting impact of this approach, and look forward to seeing it adopted across the UK and beyond.”
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