Families and young people
CRI works with local communities to help them tackle issues of substance misuse, crime and anti social behaviour. We work with the parents of children who are at risk of involvement in crime and provide advice and support on parenting issues. We also work with the families, partners, parents and carers of people with substance misuse issues, and support the victims of domestic abuse and abuse related to drugs and alcohol. We help young people improve their relationships with family, friends and neighbours and encourage them to participate in education, employment and training opportunities.
We also provide information, advice, advocacy and support to help young people obtain and maintain tenancies.
CAD
Connexions Community Personal Advisers
Domestic Abuse Services
PATCHED Family Support Service
Services for Parents and Families
Substance Misuse Services for Young People
Youth Accommodation Support Service
CAD
CRI's projects funded by the Communities Against Drugs (CAD) initiative are designed to help people protect themselves from drug misuse and crime. Project staff work alongside community groups advising on issues such as the safe disposal of needles in public spaces and providing general advice and information about drugs and crime. The projects work with the whole community but some have a specific focus on working with young people and on combating drug use and anti-social behaviour through diversionary activities such as sport.
CAD funded projects provide support in the community to those leaving structured day care programmes or coming out of prison and moving back into the community. In some parts of London, work is focused on particular 'hot spot' estates where drug related problems are being tackled in partnership by voluntary sector drug and alcohol agencies, DAIS services and the police.
Connexions Community Personal Advisers
This is a five-year contract awarded by East Sussex County Council to provide a comprehensive Information, Advice and Guidance service for vulnerable young people aged 16-25. This contract forms part of the Connexions provision for young people living in East Sussex who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. The overall aim of the service is to target young people who are no longer in education, to raise their aspirations and realise their full potential to engage in education, employment and training opportunities.
The service, which started in April 2008, has employed two teams of Community Based Intensive Personal Advisers. The teams are based in Hastings and Eastbourne and work across East Sussex from a range of venues including Youth Access Centres. Each Personal Adviser focuses on a particular area of expertise: Substance Misuse, Youth Offending, Mental Health, Learning Difficulties and Disabilities and Teenage Parents.
Domestic Abuse Services
CRI provides information, support and practical help to women, men and children who are living with domestic abuse issues. This includes advice on safety and child protection as well as practical advice on housing and legal issues. CRI helps individuals make informed choices through discussing their needs with an informed person who understands the nature of abuse and power and who can provide unbiased support. CRI also encourages the reporting of abuse to protect victims and reduce repeat offending.
Individual projects provide specialist support for those where abuse is linked to substance or alcohol misuse and for those who are pregnant or have young children. CRI's projects are run in close partnership with the police, children's support services and community safety officers as well as other organisations that can provide help and support.
For more information, please visit the Home Affairs Committee's Domestic Violence forum.
Domestic Abuse Service – East Sussex
CRI provides free, confidential, advice and support for men and women in East Sussex who are affected by domestic violence. The service helps people to address their situation, protects them against future incidents, and enables them to make choices about their future. People can contact the service directly or be referred by the police, health services and other organisations.
CRI has provided a domestic abuse service in Hastings & Rother since 1996. In April 2006 the service was extended to cover the whole of East Sussex, serving the five Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas. This made CRI the largest provider of domestic abuse services in the county and the only one to work with men as well as women.
The service has strong working relationships with a range of local agencies: these ensure that the service is well publicised and accessible and contribute to its ability to provide effective support. In 2003 the service won a Home Office award in partnership with Sussex Police for its ‘significant contribution to the reduction in violence to women’.
The service has been developed in conjunction with the East Sussex County Council Community Safety Team, Sussex Police and the Domestic Violence forum to explicitly focus upon the County’s Local Public Service Agreement targets of increasing reports of domestic violence and reducing the rate of repeat victimisation.
The service includes:
Domestic Violence Outreach Service
A specialist Domestic Violence Outreach Service covering East Sussex makes the service accessible to more people in their homes, and incorporates ‘floating support’ services funded under the Supporting People programme.
Therapeutic Service for Children
CRI has also developed, sustained and expanded a therapeutic service for children and young people who have been victims or witnesses of domestic abuse. This service was initially established by CRI in Hastings and has been expanded across East Sussex with three-year Lottery funding and an additional investment by East Sussex County Council Children’s Services.
Children and their non-abusing parent or care giver are offered up to 12 individual sessions in which play and art therapy are used to encourage children to express their feelings. Older children or young people may choose to talk and work creatively on their feelings.
Domestic Violence Advocate
An Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) works with victims of domestic violence where a case is likely to go forward to court and a ‘not guilty’ plea has been filed. The Advocate works closely with the Criminal Justice Unit and CRI welcomes the recent announcement that Hastings and Eastbourne are to become Specialist Domestic Violence Courts.
Domestic Violence Advocacy in Bournemouth and Poole
CRI delivers an independent, domestic violence advocacy service in Bournemouth and Poole, designed to protect victims and reduce repeat victimisation.
The Independent Domestic Advisor (IDVA) service is focused on the safety of adults and children and provides advice and support that enables victims to explore their options. The service is independent from the justice system and local authorities, but helps victims to access a full range of legal and non-legal services and resources.
The IDVA service operates on the principle that a multi-agency approach is the best way to tackle domestic violence and staff work in close partnership with Dorset Police Domestic Violence Units (DVUs) and the multi agency risk management framework for high-risk survivors of domestic violence (MARAC).
The service establishes thresholds for different levels of risk (very high / high / medium / standard) using a risk assessment tool recommended by the charity CAADA (Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse). A premium service is offered to those at highest risk who are contacted within one working day of referral.
All referrals come through the Dorset DVUs or MARAC and the IDVA team maintains daily contact with the DVUs and ensures that all police staff know how to contact IDVA staff and pass on referrals.
PATCHED Family Support Service
The PATCHED project in Brighton & Hove offers advice, support and referral to the families, partners, parents and carers of substance misusers and the wider community affected by substance misuse. It includes a telephone helpline, one to one and group support. The service is peer-led and supports families to deal with the impact of the substance misuse problems of a family member. It helps families to protect siblings and to get better treatment for drug problems. This family support can be highly effective in helping people to deal with substance misuse issues and can significantly aid their rehabilitation and recovery.
In 2007 a formal assessment of carers’ needs and a quarterly Carers’ Forum were introduced. These important new service developments have helped carers sustain their commitment to and ability to support their loved ones. The Carers’ Forum has also given carers a voice and provides a channel through which their views can be communicated to decision makers.
Services for Parents and Families
Intensive Family Intervention Project
The Intensive Family Intervention Project has been established to work with families, living in Hastings and St. Leonards, who are persistently perpetrating anti-social behaviour and are at risk of losing their homes or of other significant enforcement action.
The project uses a ‘twin-track’ approach, which includes providing help for families to address the causes of their behaviour, alongside supervision, support and enforcement tools to provide them with incentives to change. The success of the interventions is dependent on a multi agency approach, to ensure all the necessary services work together to provide a co-ordinated response.
Respect Parenting Practitioner
Our Senior Parenting Practitioner post is funded by the Respect Taskforce.
Aims of the Parenting Practitioner
The aims of this post are to:
• Reduce the incidence and seriousness of anti-social behaviour leading to the use of part-time timetables and school exclusions.
• Reduce the incidence of anti-social behaviour within the community.
• Work with families who have traditionally been resistant to support, incorporating parenting contracts where appropriate.
• Work in partnership with YOT, Health, Education, Social Care, Police and other voluntary services to provide joined up support to families.
Triple P Programme
The Positive Parenting Programme is new to England and has the unique feature of providing elements that can be delivered on a one to one basis in the family home. This approach can be truly beneficial for those parents who do not feel able or ready to attend a group work programme in the community
The programme also provides a group work programme for parents that provides opportunities to explore and learn new strategies in parenting skills. The programme is a ‘minimal intervention’ and is delivered over an eight week period. Three of these sessions provide guidance for parents to practice strategies at home rather than in the group setting. Facilitators from the groups are available between sessions to support families where needed.
Triple P offers a programme that is flexible for parents, and provides a toolbox of ideas that parents can dip in and out of, using the strategies that are right for their situation. Its simplicity and practical method of delivery make the learning more sustainable beyond the course.
Parenting Support
Our parenting support work has been developing since 2000, when we first established our contract with the Youth Offending Team. Our service has delivered a combination of practical, personal and therapeutic support to parents, subject to a Parenting Orders, and more recently to those accepting support voluntarily and those who have signed contracts with the YOT. This work has recently been reviewed as part of the Joint Area Review (JAR).
The following is a paragraph from the JAR report:
‘The YOT enjoyed an excellent working relationship with CRI, the charity that worked with local communities to help tackle a variety of antisocial behaviours. Initially set up to provide a service to those subject to statutory parenting orders, due to a successful approach in working collaboratively with parents/carers, CRI supported two-thirds of cases referred to them on a voluntary basis. CRI aimed to provide parenting interventions that were sensitive to diverse needs, and we were given examples relating to disability, language, mental health and transient lifestyles.’
Substance Misuse Services for Young People
CRI works with partners in criminal justice and health services to provide individually tailored, specialist support for young people with serious and complex substance misuse problems.
Services are provided in the community and in young offender institutions.
These services support young people to tackle their issues with drugs, alcohol and offending and to move on into mainstream youth provision in education, training and employment.
Youth Accommodation Support Service
For 10 years CRI has provided housing related information, advice, guidance and support to young people aged 16-25 who find themselves homeless or threatened with homelessness, and those who need advice about their housing options. Recent funding from the BIG Lottery Fund has enabled us to expand our services based in Hastings and Eastbourne, to provide a more comprehensive service, by extending both the age range to include those aged 13-25, and by creating better links for those living in the surrounding rural areas of Rother.
The main groups to benefit from this service will are young people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, and those who would like advice about leaving home or finding accommodation. These young people are typically not engaged in education, employment or training due to their circumstances.
This service, which is also part funded by Eastbourne Borough Council, links to other specialist advice services, by signposting and referring young people to other agencies according to their needs. In addition, the project targets those with multiple or more complex needs such as those with learning difficulties or disabilities, those diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and/or those with mental health and or substance use issues.
Young Person’s Tenancy Support Project
This service provides planned tenancy support to 16-25 year olds who have or are about to start their own tenancy, either in the social or private sector, and need help to sustain it. The service is commissioned, financed and monitored by ESCC Supporting People and up to 33 young tenants can be given one to one guidance and practical help at any one time. Around 60 individual tenants use the service each year. Nearly all these young people will have experienced estrangement from their families and been found to be statutorily homeless by the local authority.
Support can include: maximising income, minimising debt; gaining or sustaining employment, training or education; improving contact with leisure, culture, faith; improving contact with family; help with physical and emotional health; substance/alcohol misuse; avoiding eviction; maintaining statutory orders; reducing self-harm, harm to or from others; developing confidence and ability to have greater choice/control/involvement in the community.
