Unpaid Work and Reparation Overview in Practice – Camden, Essex, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hartlepool, Islington and North Yorkshire Youth Justice Services (July 2023)
Summary:
Camden, Essex, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hartlepool, Islington and North Yorkshire youth justice services have shared some of their reparation and unpaid work programmes they run locally.
Description:
Camden, Essex, Hartlepool, Islington and North Yorkshire youth justice services have shared some of their reparation (and unpaid work) programmes that they run. What all the services have in common is that children are at the centre of the process, they are provided the opportunity to choose what best suits their skills, knowledge and interests, where possible. This supports engagement and completion.
All the services use a flexible approach, and where children are not suitable or able to participate in pre-set up activities they will look to create and run one off activities for those children. This allows all children to meet the requirement of going some way in repairing the harm.
All the services work in collaboration with their local communities and have found that those organisations they work with have positive experiences of the children. This has allowed an increase in community members to have a better understanding of the children in the youth justice system and see them as children.
Camden Youth Justice Service – Camden Youth Justice Service support their children to access AQA- to encourage them on their desistence journey, while repairing the harm caused. They have shared a short description of the projects available, case studies and have included an example of AQA documentation. They have also shared their Mosaics leaflet used with children.
Essex Youth Justice Service – Essex youth justice service reparation and unpaid work offer is centred on a restorative approach by giving children, victims and their local community a voice. They have shared a short description of the projects they run.
Hartlepool Youth Justice Service – Hartlepool in general has low mobility, therefore it is essential and at the heart of the reparation projects that the children learn their history and heritage while repairing the harm. Hartlepool Youth Justice Service has shared some slides that showcase the activities and feedback.
Islington Youth Justice Service – Islington Youth Justice Service have developed their reparation and unpaid work on the foundation of supporting as many children as possible to develop and access qualifications while repairing the harm caused. They have shared a short description of the projects
North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service – They run a ‘pop-up’ carpentry workshop and have shared an overview of their wood works: delivering reparation from the boot of a car and short case study. What makes this project different is that it can be run anywhere from a back garden to a parking area. In order to run the project, North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service works in partnership with the local community for donations and organisations to support donations of completed objects. The children are not bound by pre-made shapes and together with the facilitator will create, design and learn how to make the agreed object.
Bike project at Hammersmith and Fulham YJS – Hammersmith and Fulham run a variety of reparation projects across the borough. Their ethos is one that encompasses the strengths of individual children and takes into account the view of the victims. They have shared a short overview report 2022-23 that showcases some of the work completed and a short description of their projects. A recent report can be found here.
Contact:
| Youth Justice Service | Name | |
| Camden Youth Justice Service | Lauren Little | Lauren.Little@camden.gov.uk |
| Essex Youth Justice Service | Cally Lewis | cally.lewis@essex.gov.uk |
| Hammersmith & Fulham Youth Justice Service | Tereza Harvey | Tereza.Harvey@lbhf.gov.uk |
| Hartlepool Youth Justice Service | Phil Gleaves | Phil.Gleaves@hartlepool.gov.uk |
| Islington Youth Justice Service | Jane Bennett | Jane.Bennett@islington.gov.uk |
| North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service | Ed Horwood | Ed.Horwood@northyorks.gov.uk |