A new website has been launched to support a project which aims to collaboratively shift and re-shape the design and delivery of services for children and young people at risk of offending.
Inclusion as Prevention (IAP), which also seeks to support the young person’s family, is based in the South Lanarkshire local authority area, currently focusing on Rutherglen and Cambuslang.
The IAP approach involves shifting from crisis-driven intervention, normally taken when a young person becomes involved in offending, to a proactive and preventative approach. In effect, IAP seeks to provide early and inclusive support to young people who are at risk of offending before negative patterns of behaviour begin. IAP are also tackling – and aiming to understand – the root causes of offending.
IAP aims to provide practitioner support, to health and care professionals (and partners) working with children, young people and their families by sharing learning from research and activities.
Diane Dobbie, service manager (children and justice) South Lanarkshire Council, who works within the broader partnership and has been key in developing the website, said: “Inclusion as Prevention is a hugely exciting project, because it is intended to redesign from scratch the way we try to help young people avoid being drawn into a life of crime through wrong choices, bad influences and a perceived lack of alternatives.
“Instead, the project is listening to the young people themselves to let a new approach be formed that we hope may form a model that can be replicated elsewhere in South Lanarkshire, across Scotland and even beyond. At the same time, it offers support to the young people and to those who can assist and work with them.
“The website offers a great first-stop view of the project and what it is aiming to achieve. I would encourage anyone who is interested in the plight of young people who are at risk of being drawn down the wrong road to visit it and discover more.”
For more information and resources visit: Home – Inclusion as Prevention
