Tackling antisocial behaviour by young people
There are many good stories to tell about the positive contribution made by young people to the life of the Royal Borough. Unfortunately these often get lost amongst stories about the minority who get involved in antisocial behaviour. The Council invests heavily in young people, helping them to develop into well-rounded individuals who are assets to the Royal Borough.
Inevitably there are a small number who do not develop in this way. The Council has therefore developed a range of initiatives to help those at risk of committing antisocial behaviour. These range from diversionary activities to more proactive, intensive work with a small number of troublesome individuals. In this edition of RBKC Direct we focus on youth services, in particular our Youth Offending Team and how we are wrestling with one of the great issues of the day.
Initiatives undertaken by the Council's Youth Offending Team (YOT), in conjunction with the police, include:
Youth Inclusion Programme
This focuses on 50 people, aged 13 to 16, in most need of diversionary help in St Charles ward. Individual plans are drawn up to prevent them from offending or reoffending. The scheme provides activities for those who may be excluded from school - getting them off the streets and into mainstream society.
The YIP team also works with registered social landlords, encouraging them not to evict troublesome teenagers.
Assisting Children Early
The Council is actively involved in diversionary work for children aged eight to 13. Working with partners, the Council is able to identify youngsters who may be involved in truancy, school exclusions, bullying, antisocial behaviour and domestic violence. A package is provided to the child and their family, providing them with diversionary activities to get them back on track. This has led to an improvement in both school attendance and behaviour.
Restorative Justice
This initiative allows the offenders to take responsibility for their actions. Each offender is given community reparation, where they take part in structured community work. This scheme also allows the person to come face to face with their victim, if their victim chooses to do so. It has proved a useful tool as it enables the offender to realise the disruption and upset their offence has caused.
Other Council initiatives include:
Canalside Activity Centre and Cremorne Gardens
For eight years the Canalside Activity Centre in North Kensington has given young people who may be involved in antisocial behaviour the opportunity to learn new skills, enhance interpersonal skills and develop a healthy lifestyle through activities such as canoeing.
The Council has recently won New Opportunities funding to refurbish the water sports centre at Cremorne Gardens. Once the centre is rebuilt in 2006, the Council hopes it will stay open throughout the year. The new Cremorne Gardens will develop much-needed provision for young people in the south of the borough and particularly the World's End Estate.
Diversionary work at Henry Dickens Court Estate
The Council also brings together young people for educational activities that allow them to develop the ability to make important choices for themselves. This scheme has been particularly active on the Henry Dickens Court Estate in North Kensington. Previously the estate had little or no youth service, but a number of activities have now been arranged, including sports, arts and health education programmes, kayaking and music workshops. These schemes encourage people to divert away from the temptation to engage in antisocial behaviour, which can ultimately lead to crime.
The Council realises that diversionary measures do not always work, so what does it do to deal with persistent offenders?
Working closely with the police's Community Antisocial Behaviour Action Team (CASBAT), a variety of powers can be used in the most extreme cases. Powers include:
Acceptable Behaviour Agreements (ABAs) – non-legal agreements between the police and the perpetrators of low-level antisocial incidents. These have been used to tackle issues such as criminal damage and general nuisance. Due to close monitoring, they have a fairly good success rate.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) – have been sought against five under 18s who have continually engaged in antisocial behaviour in an attempt to protect the community from their actions. The police enforce the orders and noncompliance can lead to imprisonment, sending out a clear message that the failure to abide by the orders will not be tolerated.
The hard work that the Council has put into reducing antisocial behaviour by our young people is starting to pay dividends. The YOT is now able to reach out to more people than ever before, working with 746 people in 2003 to 2004 compared with only 520 in 2002 to 2003. The number of young people that were in education, employment and training on completion of their orders last year was 71 per cent. And crime has fallen. In 2003 to 2004 there were 29,783 crimes committed in Kensington and Chelsea while in 2004 to 2005 that number had fallen to 26,812.
We realise that there is much to be done but we are confident that slowly and surely we are making Kensington and Chelsea a safer place to live, work and visit.
Let us know what you think about antisocial behaviour in your area by emailing your comments to rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk.
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