Following discussions with other agencies, both Statutory and Voluntary, it became obvious that specific services with a designated service Co-ordinator were needed. The new services would compliment, and work in tandem with the experience and skills of the main Charity.
The aims and objectives of these new services are to help work towards the Young Offender acknowledging and understanding of their current behaviour patterns which result in their offending, enabling the offender to make positive changes and choices to avoid re-offending.
Family Matters will achieve this by:
Therapeutic Counselling to enable Young Offenders (excluding sexual offenders) to work through their feelings to the root cause of their current or past patterns of behaviour and so limit the threat they pose to themselves and the threat they themselves pose to the community at large
Open ended support and a secure base upon which to build, thus empowering these young people to develop positive attitudes through higher self esteem, to develop healthy interpersonal and social skills, and with help, convert past liabilities into assets for the future
This would reduce the need for custody and secure accommodation. A range of services to use specified activity orders, counselling services and other resources to support young people remanded by Court (The Children's Services Plan).
Family Matters amended their Constitution which allows Family Matters to incorporate ALL forms of abuse in order that Young Offenders, with a history of abuse of any kind could be accommodated by these new services.
It is Family Matters' aim to continue to progress and move forward in close partnership with all statutory bodies working with Young Offenders. We are part of the multi-agency approach addressing criminal behaviour with preventative work which is a priority outlined in the Crime and Disorder Bill.
We are at present finalising our services to Prisons in Kent and will be in operation in two prisons by year end.