Case 1:
Sean wanted to undertake an electrical course. A course was identified but it didn’t start until five months after his release from custody. In order to ensure structure in Sean’s life and increase the likelihood of a positive outcome, the YOT worker arranged for him to attend a short course in various trades and then a foundation course to prepare for the main course. Sean maintained his motivation, commenced the planned course, and continued on it.
Case 2:
A creative approach was needed by the case manager because Paul was difficult to engage. They used table football and when a goal was scored they asked each other questions about offending or aspirations. When addressing values and beliefs they used an “I believe what I am saying–ometer”. Paul rated how much he believed what he was saying and they discussed it. This helped overcome barriers to engagement and understanding Paul’s motivation.
Case 3:
Leroy was separated from his family. He was of black Caribbean heritage and isolated in a predominantly white area. The case manager arranged for Leroy to have a mentor from his cultural background, who worked with him to support his identity. The mentor also helped Leroy engage with female workers. The case manager identified a local hairdresser who was skilled in the haircut that Leroy preferred. The focus on responding to Leroy’s heritage contributed to improved relationships and effective engagement to address the offending behaviour.
Case 4:
Tom could be reckless and did not consider the impact of his actions on others. He was influenced by an older peer group. The YOT and police jointly delivered a programme called “Y-Di” addressing the consequences of dangerous behaviour with cars. Tom was referred to this programme. His confidence developed and he was able to challenge others views in the group. He started to recognise the impact of selfish or reckless behaviour. Subsequently he was offered a lift, but declined because the car did not have enough seatbelts and missed a party. For Tom this indicated significant improvement in thinking and behaviour.
Early help case 1:
John was initially referred through his High School but then excluded from that school due to disruptive behaviour. The YOT early help worker attended the initial school meeting. John’s mum is a single parent with 7 children and had not had any additional provision to support her. John began attending another school in Norwich in February 2013 and has received two 'good progress postcards' to his home address. He is happier and more settled and currently there are no concerns from his school about his behaviour.
Early help case 2:
Throughout the intervention Julie; Sarah’s mum stated she would stick her head in the sand. This was part of Sarah’s problem. When talking to Julie during sessions the YOT early help worker focussed on the bucket of sand, and at the end of the intervention Julie finally said "I have kicked the bucket of sand over, I am not going to stick my head in it anymore".
Early help case 3:
Allan commented on the YISP intervention "yeah it’s been good", “I’m not getting into trouble anymore". Allan’s mum also said that now Allan will often avoid problematic situations within the community, and quite often walks away.
Early help case 4:
Gemma, aged 8, had been displaying some really aggressive behaviour which was only happening at home. At school, she was described as a ‘model student’, and there were no instances of anti social behaviour in public. The YOT early help worker and Gemma decided to complete a ‘behaviour sticker book’, with 5 aims, chosen by Gemma as "things she wanted to change at home" and Dawn, her mum agreed to monitor this.
At the next visit, there were a few ‘stickers’ in the book, but generally the book was filled with crosses where the aims had been missed each day. The next session was spent refocusing and reminding Gemma about the purposes of the book. Gemma had spent lots of time decorating her book during the course of the week, so this was encouraging and it was agreed to give it another try.
Disappointingly, the following week, there were even more crosses despite the previous enthusiasm. Understandably, Dawn was frustrated by the lack of success. Again, we refocused on the aims of the work. Following some professional discussion with a YOT colleague, experienced in counselling, it was agreed to drop all but one aim in the book as it was believed that Gemma was a bit of a "perfectionist" and it was felt she lost hope when even one "bad mark" was recorded in the book.
Following this new strategy, at the next visit, Dawn told the YOT early help worker that the family had taken out all the aims except one. In that week there were 7 stickers in it for that aim. Interestingly, Dawn also reported that all of the other aims had also been achieved by Gemma despite not being in the book anymore.
Early help case 5:
Craig is a young person who was assaulting his mum; Rebecca. Meetings with both Craig and Rebecca were held and then they were brought together in a Restorative Justice Conference which took place at Craig’s school.
Craig was fully aware of his anger and wanted to stop hurting Rebecca because it made him very sad when his anger got out of control. Rebecca wanted to explain to Craig how much his behaviour was upsetting her and that she loved him very much. It was decided that Craig would help Rebecca more with household chores and with help from Rebecca ensure he kept his room tidy. Craig also agreed to walk away if he started to feel angry and to go to his room to calm down.
Rebecca was very satisfied with the outcome and thanked the early help service for their help.