We are very proud to say that Cllr Paul Scriven invited Wendy to debrief him on Monday 1st December on major concerns, desired outcomes and potentially realistic solutions to Youth Crime:
- really understand the root cause which made young people feel the only way they can be safe is to carry a knife.
- Listen to young people more
- Stop assuming we know, better
- Put younger people at the centre of debate on solutions and give them a pivotal role in planning solutions
- More effective lines of communication in multi-agency working
- More trained professionals for the community to call on as required.
- Ensure the punishment fits the crime
- Use media to present positive images of young people and eliminate distortions
- Tailor the education system to meet individual needs
- Provide more preventative facilities, peer mentoring, role modelling
- Give young people a safe place to build-up their self-respect and self-esteem.
- Invest more resources and funds in to properly staffed facilities to improve community liaison
- Involve victims to help their perpetrators accept responsibility and create clearer boundaries
- Mixed age Community activities centres involving the business community to enable young and old people relate more effectively with each other.
- CPS, which takes the final decision on charging for crimes, needs to increase the victim’s sense of relevance to reported crimes.
- Facilitate opportunities for cross-cultural understanding across youth groups and communities.
I will also be asking Paul Scriven to give us similar feedback for us to then feed it back to you with a view to influencing policy at a local level which is integral to our ethos.
Please do not hesitate to share your concerns on youth crime even if you were unable to join us at our Youth Crime workshop.