New funding for targeted support to help children at risk of becoming involved in violent crime has been welcomed following a joint bid.
Five Violence Reduction Units across Avon and Somerset have secured a total of more than £796,000 for two projects.
Bath & North East Somerset Council is one of the five local authorities which jointly secured the successful bid to support violence reduction initiatives across the district.
More than £491,000 of the funding will be used to appoint specialist staff to an education inclusion project to help children avoid permanent exclusion.
New education inclusion managers and youth justice support workers will intervene at the ‘teachable moment’ when a child is at risk of being excluded from school due to serious violence.
A further £305,000 will enable Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) and partner agencies including the council to take “trauma informed approaches” in their ways of working.
This will ensure children feel safe in exploring their feelings with the aim of enabling them to take positive steps away from negative feelings and behaviours, therefore reducing the risk of involvement in crime.
A project in Bristol supported by education inclusion managers has seen no permanent exclusions related to weapons in schools in the city this year.
A report on the project published earlier this year shows that education inclusion managers have increased schools’ confidence in supporting children affected by serious violence, resulting in children receiving targeted support at the right ‘teachable moment’ by Youth Justice Support Workers.
Councillor Dine Romero, cabinet member for Children and Young People, Communities and Culture, said: “We welcome this new funding which will help to bring about change for young people in Bath and North East Somerset, by providing specialist help at the right moment to lead them away from the dangers of becoming involved in violent crime.
“We know that school exclusion is a marker for being at higher risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of crime, which is why projects such as these are important in tackling the causes of violence before it occurs.”
The funding is part of the Home Office’s £17m investment for early intervention and preventative activity to support young people at high risk of involvement in serious violence.
