Youth offending - preventative services

Early intervention project

The early intervention project is a new way of working with children and their families. The information on this page is for parents, carers and professionals.

The early intervention project is a scheme that can work with you and your family to give you extra support.

The project works with children under the age of 15, whose behaviour is causing concern at home, in school, or the local community; and if it continues is likely to lead to their involvement in crime.

Types of behaviour could include being disruptive in school, causing trouble, doing graffiti, bullying or vandalism.

What does the project aim to do?

We aim to:

Find alternatives for children to becoming involved in crime, and help families to support their children in taking advantage of these alternatives 

• Assess what support your child and family needs, without having to have a number of separate assessments by different agencies 
• Allow your family to meet together with lots of people from different organisations. You can have your say to tell us what help you think you and your family need, to stop your child getting in to trouble 
• Draw up an agreed action plan led by your family.    

How does it work?

• You, your children and any other adults that are important to your children’s care, (which might be grandparents or others) would talk to the project co-ordinator about all the ways you’ve tried to sort things out before. 
• The project co-ordinator would talk to your social worker if you have one, or your school counsellor, youth worker, housing officer, police officer, or any workers that have been involved with you and your family, to find out how they have helped. 
• We would then hold a family meeting, so that your family and friends could talk about all the things that are difficult to manage. You could then ask for the help your family feel would work. 
• You, your children and all the adults caring for them, can tell all the workers involved with your family what you need, from your point of view. 
• The family and workers make a plan together. 
• We sit down together again, for example in six months time, to see what has worked and what needs to change.    

How do I find out more?

If you are interested in talking it over you can ask any of the people that are listed above who already work with your family. They will contact the project worker on your behalf. If you are not already in contact with a social worker, school counsellor etc, you can contact the project co-ordinator below.