Sandwell Council’s iTrust Programme, which supported families against youth crime, is a finalist in the prestigious MJ Achievement Awards 2021, where the early intervention programme to address knife crime and violence has been shortlisted in the Transforming Lives category.
This acknowledges programmes, initiatives or changes to service delivery that have demonstrably transformed the lives of groups or communities of people.
The judges looked for evidence of why programmes were started; how needs were assessed; what the priorities and success factors were; how innovative programmes were; and how feedback from participants was used to shape the initiative.
ITrust (Supporting Families Against Youth Crime Programme) was developed by Sandwell Council, Sandwell Children’s Trust, Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations and West Midlands Police Sandwell Partnership Team to meet the principles of the national Troubled Families Programme which included early identification of those children and families at greatest risk.
The programme worked with children in Years 6 and 7 in the Smethwick and West Bromwich police impact areas and, by taking an approach based on very early intervention, aimed to engage children at this key transition period in school life. This linked to other successful programmes delivered in Sandwell and contributed to Sandwell Council’s Vision 2030 ambitions and the Safer Sandwell Partnership priorities.
The winners will be announced at the MJ Achievement Awards event on Friday, 17 September.
For more information, read the iTrust Sandwell evaluation here.
Know any young people with hearing loss, or who are the children of Deaf parents? Sandwell Deaf Community Association (SDCA) runs a Youth Service offering loads of fun activities, holiday clubs, educational events and guidance sessions.
Caldonia Dances are offering digital and/or in-person workshop packages to Secondary Schools, Colleges, Universities and Youth Groups for young people 14+ in the West Midlands from September 2021 on a first come first served basis.
Young people told the Anna Freud Centre that when they are struggling they are usually told to see a professional. They don’t often get much advice about how they could help themselves.