Every young person is a unique individual with their own set of circumstances that conspire to trap them in their own prison, the YPDP is the key to the door. Only they can chose if they want to unlock it.

Young people are typically referred to the programme by professional workers or family members, sometimes they self refer.

If they sign up, they are committing to attending a minimum of one three hour meeting each week for between 6 months and a year. Their programme may include a week long residential course in a challenging outdoor environment. They will be expected to take part in community work and volunteering and, depending on their programme format, may The programme offers the young people:

·         Substantially increase participants’ self-esteem, motivation and aspirations.

·         Develop a clear understanding of the effects and consequences of their choices and actions on themselves and their wider family and community.

·         Develop a foundation of understanding of the importance of personal responsibility, self-worth and emotional literacy.

·         Equip participants with the inter-personal, communication and behavioural skills that will enable them to capitalise on the opportunities that are available to them in terms of education, training, jobs or work-based learning etc.

·         Expose the participants to information, advice and guidance from a range of professional or specialist sources that can enhance their ability to access services, support and opportunities available locally or in a wider geographical context.

We strongly believe that this will provide the individual young people with substantially improved future prospects and will also have the added benefit of improving the lives and aspirations of the people that they live with and associate with in the locality.

HOW THE YOUNG PEOPLE JOIN THE PROGRAMME

The referral criteria for young people is male or female aged between 13 and 17 years who are judged by the Connexions Service to qualify for intensive support due to multiple and complex issues or barriers in line with published Connexions Service criteria. This is usually referred to as ‘Priority One’ criteria.

At different times during the year we will solicit referrals from all key agencies and individuals who have a remit to work with young people in the target referral criteria.  This will include members of the programme team attending meetings with key individuals, agency team briefings etc.  A package containing details of the referral criteria, a full explanation of the programme and all other relevant referral information will be widely distributed to workers, agencies and community leaders etc.

Referrals will be made by completing a simple form that provides basic contact details and information about the proposed participant.

It is anticipated, in line with our previous experience, that the key sources of referrals will be Connexions Personal Advisors, Educational Welfare Officers, Inclusion Team Workers and Youth Workers.

All referral forms will be checked against the criteria to ensure that only young people who meet the criteria are offered a chance to apply to join the programme.

An initial letter of introduction will be sent to young people. This will introduce the programme to them and let them know that they have been put forward as a possible participant. This will be followed up by a telephone call or personal contact whereby they will be invited to an information session in order to find out more about the programme.

Information sessions are held at a locally appropriate venue, usually a Youth Centre or Connexions office.  A member of the project team  presents the programme to the young people. Young people who have taken part in previous programmes will be available to share their experiences and encourage young people to apply to join the programme. Parents, carers, professional key workers etc. will be encouraged to attend information sessions and support the young people in attending.

Young people who choose to apply complete a comprehensive application form providing base line data on their current living situation, present and previous experiences in relation to education (exclusions etc.), violence (either as a perpetrator or victim), substance misuse, offending behaviour, sexual health, pregnancy or parenthood, abuse etc.  Trained staff will ensure that information is appropriately recorded and stored.  Disclosures relating to child protection matters will be actioned according to procedures adopted by Nottinghamshire County Council.

(Note: the information contained within the application forms is confidential and secured under the terms of the Data Protection Act. It is used to help build a comprehensive profile of individual participants in order to assist the programme team to work with them to develop individual personal action plans that take full account of their current and previous circumstances. For example:  Where a young woman, who has recent and previous convictions for violent or drugs related offences, is seeking to train in NVQ Child Care, but unlikely to be able to gain employment due to offending profile, it is possible to signpost or guide in the direction of more appropriate training etc.  The information profile is also used to guide decisions on mentor pairings in order to ensure suitable support and skills mix for the young people).

At this stage young people are asked to identify three ‘Goals’ that they would like to achieve during their participation on the programme. These would typically be to stop using drugs, get a better relationship with my family, get back into education etc.

Once a completed application is received into the programme office, a number of checks are undertaken (clearances) to ensure that there are no current circumstances that would undermine the young person’s ability to fully participate in the programme. This includes checking with the Police and Youth Offending Teams to ensure that there are no bail conditions or court orders that limit the possibility of successful participation.  Schools are contacted to ensure that the young person is not subject to any special arrangement or taking part in an alternative educational activity that would be compromised.  Checks are also done with Social Services, solicitors and other key workers.

A member of the project team undertakes a home visit.  From this we are able to learn about the living situation of the young person, meet parents/carers or the people that they live with and explain the programme to them.  We obtain parental consent and information about health and medication requirements and see how the young person responds to, or interacts with, the people that they live with.  This is an important part of building a relationship with their wider family that will be addressed by trained volunteers throughout the course of the programme.

The process of clearing takes about three weeks. During this time a trained volunteer supports the young person through the process and ensures that they stay engaged with the programme.

VOLUNTEER COACH MENTORS & PROGRAMME SUPPORT

Each young person is allocated a trained volunteer Coach/Mentor; this may be on a one-to-one basis or one-to-two dependent on the numbers of available volunteers.  The aim of the Coach/Mentor is to provide a stable and consistent relationship with the young person throughout the programme.  Their main role is to coach the youth participant on achieving the personal goals they set for themselves.  Coach/Mentors have at least one face-to-face meeting and one telephone call with their allocated young person/s each week.

A separate team of volunteers work alongside the team of mentors to provide mediation services to parents/carers, support for the youth participants such as acting as advocate, appropriate adult or general support at case conferences or exclusion meetings etc.

Volunteers may be existing Young Potential volunteers or may be newly recruited through local advertising and word of mouth.  All volunteers are provided with extensive training in order to equip them with the skills to undertake the voluntary task they choose. This includes up to 100 hours of training dependent on the roles undertaken.  The Local Authority (Nottinghamshire County Council) provides additional training to cover Child Protection and Disclosures. Nottinghamshire Police provide training for the volunteers on personal safety, safe restraints and non-confrontational conflict resolution.

All volunteers complete a detailed application form and are required to supply two references. We undertake Disclosure and Criminal Records Checks on all staff and volunteers.

 RESIDENTIAL TRAINING COURSES

All youth participants and volunteers will take part in a residential training experience. This provides young people with the opportunity to work together, to explore how their life experiences, their physical environment and their relationships have shaped the way they see themselves and perceive the world around them.  

The residential includes both classroom sessions and out-door adventurous activities. These are designed to help the young people to develop their emotional literacy in order to; enhance their ability to build and maintain relationships with adults and other young people; develop self-esteem and confidence; learn to trust and be trusted.

During the residential the young people will revisit the reasons for the goals that they want to achieve and may decide to fine tune them or change them as they become more self aware.

WEEKLY CONTACT SESSIONS

Throughout the programme there are a series of weekly contact sessions that take the form of training workshops, meetings and activities.  Sessions focus on personal development, inter-personal and life skills and on practical activities, education and community action. Experience has shown that by providing curriculum style content alongside a practical session allows the young people to learn and practice new skills in a sustainable way.

Some of the sessions will include activities in the wider community that are organised and led by the young people, enabling them to visibly contribute to their local community.

All staff and volunteers who work on the programme are trained, skilled and experienced in working both in groups and opportunistically one-to-one with young people. Where appropriate, some sessions will include input from specialist staff.

The programme is carefully designed to provide intensive development support to participants in a holistic and organised manner. The programme themes are

Laying the Foundations: Establishing the scope and context of the programme with the participants. Setting up structures and practices including personal goal setting, action steps and mistakes and accomplishments. Introducing the participants to personal portfolios, accreditation and evaluation systems. Establishing the roles of mentors and support staff/volunteers.

Giving and Receiving Support: Exploring the participants’ attitude and relationship to trust and support. Activities to build trust and support and looking at how previous experiences can influence current perceptions.

Responsibility and Choice: A range of activities and exercises that help participants to distinguish between when they react or respond to situations.  How they relate to personal responsibility and how to create choices in difficult and challenging circumstances.

Communication: Looking at different types and styles of communication, verbal and non-verbal.  Exploring where communication difficulties get in the way of personal development. How communication affects relationships with families, in education or with people in authority etc.  Mediation and negotiation skills.

Conflict Resolution: Using different activities and exercises to develop a clear sense of where conflict comes from, how to manage anger and violence and how to resolve conflict.

Who Am I?: Exploring with the participants who they are in different areas of their lives. How they manage relationships, how they feel about themselves and how they relate to taking care of their emotional and physical health. 

Community and Resources: Learning about opportunities and services available in the wider community, practicing accessing services, planning and designing services and partnership working.

After completing six months of weekly contact sessions the young people will progress to supported placements with local employers, voluntary initiatives e.g. Millennium Volunteers or the Princes’ Trust etc or training providers. Hours of contact will depend on placement. They will continue to attend one three hour session each week with the main programme where they will receive support and coaching and continue to compile personal portfolios of information for accreditation.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT – Estimated 25% of  programme

LIFE SKILLS/PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS - Estimated 20% of programme

VOLUNTEERING – Estimated 15% of programme

HEALTH: SEX AND RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION (SRE) – Estimated 5% of programme.

HEALTH: SUBSTANCE MISUSE EDUCATION AND EARLY INTERVENTION – Estimated 10% of programme

 ARTS – Estimated 5% of programme