Funding to break the cycle of anti-social behaviour in young people in Doncaster

Working with young people aged from ten to 17-years-old, the programme will run in both Doncaster and Rotherham and will break the cycle of anti-social behaviours by keeping young people safely at home, in school, and out of trouble.

The programme will involve identifying young people most at risk of being placed into Local Authority Care or at risk of custody.

MST is an intensive family and community-based intervention that targets the multiple causes of anti-social behaviour in young people.

MST adopts a social-ecological approach to understanding problematic behaviours in young people.

Viewing the individual as being surrounded by a network of interconnected systems that include the young person themselves, their family as well as their peer group, school and wider neighbourhood.

Parents and caregivers are viewed as the main instigators of change in the young person.

The MST programme aims to improve family relationships, encourage more young people to engage positively with education and training and ultimately reduce young people’s offending.

Graham Jones, Head of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit said: “This is fantastic news to be awarded this funding at a time when everyone needs to be working together to help and support young people.

“The South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit have supported this bid from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council due the quality of the interventions and the evidence base on how MST works with young people steering them away from crime.”

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner said: “We realise increasingly that if we are to reduce crime in society we must do more to help young people keep away from anti-social behaviour and to learn how to respond better to the community in which they live.”

Andy Hood, Head of Doncaster Young People’s Services for Doncaster Children’s Services Trust and lead officer on the bid to the Home Office, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to support families, where there are issues of exploitation.

“We have seen the benefits of the MST approach in Doncaster. It really improves families’ lives and we look forward to utilising this approach with a more targeted cohort of families.”

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