This Information Sheet highlights learning points from the National Youth Justice Conference workshops (2017)

Murphy, Carole

University of Strathclyde Institutional Repository

 info sheet63July 2017National Youth Justice Conference, June 21-22, 2017This Information Sheet highlights learning points from the National Youth Justice Conference workshops. You can access the resource sheet here.  Turn Your Life Around: Early intervention and prevention Pattie Santelices, Molly Page and James, Schools and Communities Department, City of Edinburgh CouncilThis project provides an opportunity for school pupils, their families and staff to hear from individuals who have come through adverse experiences and turned their lives around. James, one of the mentors, shared some of the negative experiences from his childhood and the impact these had on his own risk taking behaviours. He also shared his sense of achievement from supporting children who may be going through similar experiences by helping them understand they are not alone and by giving hope that things can change for the better. We heard that because of hearing the life stories of mentors like James, some children have felt able to speak out about their current experiences. Under Pressure: Tackling abuse and exploitation in looked after young people’s intimate relationships Gordon Main, CELCIS and Sarah Robertson, Youthlink ScotlandUnder Pressure, a course on preventing teen abuse and child sexual exploitation (CSE), has been delivered by Zero Tolerance since 2011. CYCJ and CELCIS have tailored Under Pressure for residential childcare workers, as emerging research highlights the particular vulnerability to CSE amongst looked after children (Brodie & Pearce, 2012; CELCIS, 2013). The course aims to equip staff with the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver effective sexualisation awareness, abuse prevention and early intervention initiatives with young people; incorporate prevention and early intervention strategies into their work; and initiate new activities to address abuse in young people’s intimate relationships. As an introduction, participants had the opportunity to complete one of the Under Pressure exercises. Trauma informed practice: Making it tangible Dan Johnson, Kibble Education and Care CentreThe high rates of adverse childhood experiences and trauma in looked after children were highlighted, alongside research showing that the more traumatised you are, the more violent and aggressive you may become towards others. Yet we often overlook the trauma, or focus on containing and changing the behaviour, without dealing with the impact. Our system can cause further damage by breaking relationships and focusing on “what’s wrong with you?” rather than “what’s happened to you?” Learning from international approaches to trauma informed care can assist change in practice and processes in Scotland. Examples of good practice from the USA were shared and an interesting discussion led to a consensus that there is scope for whole system change. continued overleaf www.cycj.org.ukCarole Murphy, CYCJThe Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice is funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by the University of Strathclyde HMYOI Polmont: Therapeutic approaches to the here and now David Pitt and Lisa Thomson, SPS/Barnardo’s‘Here & Now’ is a service in HMYOI Polmont, which provides specialist assessment and direct intervention to young males affected by trauma, bereavement and loss. The workshop outlined the therapy used with young people in order to overcome some of the issues that have led to previous health harming and risk taking behaviours.  Delegates were taken on a journey of two young males who had been through the therapy sessions whilst in HMYOI Polmont.  Videos of the young males recounting a story from their past were shown and participants asked to consider the behaviours that emerged during the therapy session. It was highlighted that the vocabulary and body language displayed can assist therapists to address underlying issues in the here and now.  Let’s start the conversation: Preventing young people from online threat and risk Scott Tees and Allan Elderbrant, Police ScotlandThis workshop highlighted that the starting point for preventing young people from online threat and risk is being curious about where and what our children are doing online. The risks and threats can be limited by talking to them, asking them to show you and being interested in what they are doing. We need to think beyond sexual exploitation and understand the nature of the different types of threats and risk, for example financial exploitation, bullying, cyber-crime, hacking and risk of criminalisation through lack of knowledge of the law regarding sending or receiving images. There are tools available to aid monitoring and restricting access to specific sites but the best protection starts with good relationships and having conversations! Transforming psychological trauma: A knowledge and skills framework for the Scottish workforce in a youth justice context Sandra Ferguson, NHS Education for ScotlandAn opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the new knowledge and skills framework for trauma was offered. A key message was everyone has a role to play in understanding and responding to people affected by trauma, whether we are working at a trauma informed, skilled, enhanced or specialist practice level. The framework lays out the level of knowledge and skills required of practitioners and managers depending on the frequency and intensity of contact they have with people affected by trauma. An exercise where we considered different roles within the youth justice workforce, highlighted that many practitioners and managers should be working at the trauma enhanced level, with the vast majority of practitioners and managers working at least at the trauma skilled level.  The social circle: Young people and the Children’s Panel Street Cones At this workshop, the audience became ‘spec-Actors’ rather than spectators as we were taken through a journey of how young people often perceive the Children’s Hearing System. By stepping into the young person’s shoes the spec-Actors were firstly asked to think how they would feel as their social circle reduced to the point that there were very little positives left. Following this, we watched an excellent and realistic performance about one young girl’s experience of the Children’s Hearing System, highlighting the issues from her perspective. This led to a lively debate on the current themes and issues experienced by young people who are attending Children’s Hearings and how we can attempt to overcome these difficulties. w www.cycj.org.uke cycj@strath.ac.uk  @CYCJScotland

National Youth Justice Conference, June 21-22, 2017

https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/68081/1/Murphy_CYCJ_2017_national_youth_justice_conference.pdf

National Youth Justice Conference, June 21-22, 2017

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