We use both preventative and protective interventions (for those at risk of, and those involved in, serious youth violence) to achieve this. We do this using direct one-to-one work, bespoke delivery, resource sharing, early interventions, and group work.
Focusing on each young person’s individual needs, we put together a bespoke programme, focused on areas including safety, housing, relationships, confidence building, education, and employment. We also work alongside their close relatives and immediate support network.
Our support aims to reduce risk and help young people to cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of exploitation.
We extended into the West Kent area for the first time this year.
Impact
Over the course of the year, Kent County Lines and Gangs received 168 referrals, of which 128 were accepted. Of the 40 rejected referrals, 11 were duplicates, and 16 were from outside of our area.
Following these referrals, we supported 169 children and young people, 59.8% of which had complex needs. From this, we received 346 reports of a positive change by the young people.
24 children and young people completed their intervention and left the service with a positive outcome, including 18 children and young people who successfully re-entered the education system following our support.
Six children and young people were referred to other Catch22 services in London and Birmingham. A further three were referred to Catch22’s Maidstone Skills Centre.
Working together
Working in partnership
Kent County Lines and Gangs service has been established for two years and is a well-trusted service throughout the region.
We are proud of the links that have been built with stakeholders, partner agencies and professionals. We believe that, by making these relationships as strong as possible and working harmoniously with our partners, we collectively have a better impact on the young person’s life.
Some of our partners include:
- Kent Police,
- Metropolitan Police,
- British Transport Police,
- NHS trusts,
- education settings,
- social services,
- early help,
- youth justice services, and
- therapeutic settings
We also continue to work closely with our funders at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).
Operationally, our relationship with the VRU is one of importance. We work closely with them and our children and young people, to work towards the best positive outcome, and ensure that our young people are fully safeguarded.
Voice of the young person
Upon exit from the service, we ask our young people to answer a number of questions about their experience. This year, the results showed that:
- 100% of young people would recommend Catch22 to others based on their experience with our service.
- 90% of young people felt more able to enjoy their life as a result of the support given by our service.
- 100% of young people felt more confident in their ability to make positive changes in their life as a result of the support given by our service.
- 100% of young people felt that the staff they worked with cared about them and their wellbeing.
“Sarah has been a lifesaver. She does so much, and I am sure does more than it is her job to do. I don’t know where I would be without her.”
– Parent of a service user
Diversionary activities
Over the course of the year, we have attended or delivered a number of diversionary activities within the communities we support, including:
- school open day with the Police,
- Family Solutions meetings,
- knife injury first aid training,
- events in Whitstable schools,
- commissioned services event run by the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner,
- event held by Gillingham FC,
- the Prince’s Trust celebration,
- the Dalby Square summer event,
- county lines intensification week,
- the Canterbury celebration event,
- supporting ‘I See You’, and
- supporting ‘This Girl Can’ in Deal and Dover.
We have also fed local trends, insights, and themes in to the monthly Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP) meetings.
Within our own team, we have also facilitated a number of team building and learning events to support our workforce.
Online parents’ support forum
The Kent County Lines and Gangs team have played a pivotal part in launching an online support forum for the parents and carers of the young people Catch22 supports.
The Catch22 Parents Support Forum was established in March 2023, and is for parents and carers of children and young people referred into the charity’s child exploitation services.
Its objectives are to:
- enable parents to offer and seek mutual support in a safe and supported environment,
- enable the voice of parents and carers to inform the service development and strategic direction of Catch22 services, and
- empower parents and carers to advocate for their own and their child’s needs and to participate in service development where appropriate.
The group meets monthly online using Microsoft Teams and is facilitated by three Catch22 staff members from different teams including ours.
There is also a moderated WhatsApp group administered by Catch22 staff. The WhatsApp group is only used for chat relevant to the Forum and there are mutually agreed ground rules to ensure confidentiality.
The forum has Terms of Reference, risk assessments, and a group agreement in place. The group agreement was devised with parents and each session begins with a reminder of this agreement to ensure all participants feel safe and comfortable.
Eight parents from the Kent County Lines and Gangs services have attended the forum, and all have found the group helpful and supportive, and continue to attend the meetings.
Challenges
Gender
Gender disparities continue to be a challenge. Although we have seen an increase in female referrals there is still work to be done to ensure more female referrals continue to come our way.
Another challenge we have discovered is that female cases have far more complexities from the start. Where male cases tend to take a while to build up trust, we have found that our female cases are far more inclined to speak openly from the start and, as such, present with a multitude of challenges that need to be addressed in a time critical manner.
Please note that, although this is being highlighted as a challenge, our dedicated case workers have worked tirelessly with our female cohort to ensure that they feel heard, safe, and are fully informed of what our work with them looks like – including onward referrals for specialised issues. This approach ensures our case workers continue to build on the trust that is built, as well as giving the client the voice to share matters that may not have been shared previously and manage the disclosures in a sensitive and delicate way.
Our work is focused on empowering our female children and young people to take back the control of their lives in positive ways and, where necessary, ensure that all the specialist support that is required is in place to ensure that they can do this successfully.
Future plans
Gender disparities
This coming year, we will continue to ensure that young females are getting the right support they need and are not being overlooked. It is essential that this work does not stop and that, whilst we have some momentum, we push forwards to ensure that we continue to highlight females that need support and importantly get the right support in place for them – especially with some of the delicate subjects that need addressing.
We are currently seeking funding for a dedicated female worker who specialises in the complexities that young females face. This role will work in harmony with our current caseworkers and will help to support them with their female cases, as well as working directly with a cohort of young females themselves.
Areas covered
We have seen a drop off in the number of referrals we receive from outside of our designated areas. We believe this is due to wider better knowledge of the areas we do work in. However, we do still get enquiries from professionals asking if we do cover other areas.
We are continually looking for additional funding to ensure that Kent as whole can have the same level of cover, regardless of area.
Common themes
We will continue to report on and highlight what common themes we are seeing within our work in Kent. We will also continue to liaise with our sister services in other parts of the country to ensure that we are always aware of trends in other areas. This is to ensure that even if we are not seeing similar in our area, we are prepared if that changes.
Other plans
In addition to the above, we hope to:
- continue to demonstrate the impact of our work with our funders and other key decision makers,
- continue to work with our partners and utilise their specialities, such as Sports Connect,
- continue to support the Parents’ Forum developed in 2023 and expand on the programme where possible,
- deliver more therapeutic sessions, and
- bridge the gap with marginalised young people in Kent, for example, LGBTQ+, care leavers, and BAME young people.
“Catch22 have undertaken some fantastic work with a very vulnerable 11-year-old girl. Mike and Cheryl have carried out some excellent safeguarding and have kept me and the social worker in the loop. This really is a very complicated case, but their professionalism has been 100%.”
– Violence reduction unit
