PCD 1396 Continued support for young people with experiences of victimisation in youth custody

PCD 1396 Continued support for young people with experiences of victimisation in youth custody 

MOPAC is currently working in partnership with the MoJ and Kent PCC to pilot the Harm and Adverse Experience Network (HAVEN) service in Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institution (YOI) which recognises and responds to children’s past experiences of victimisation as a driver of offending behaviour (PCD 849 and PCD 880).  

This Decision seeks agreement to extend the existing provision within YOI Cookham Wood for 2023/24 and to procure a provider to expand the provision of support for young victims to deliver in HMYOI Feltham for 2023-2025. The recommendations below outline the financial commitment needed from MOPAC and seek agreement to accept scale up funding from the GLA’s New Deal for Young People (NDYP). Scaling up this pilot will enable more boys to be supported to cope and recover from experiences of victimisation and trauma and will also allow for more robust evaluation findings. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Accept grant funding of up to £65,000 in 2023/24  from the Greater London Authority New Deal for Young People team to enable the continuation of a victimisation service in YOI Cookham Wood. 

2. Accept grant funding of up to £15,000  for 2023/24 from Kent PCC for the continuation of a victimisation service in YOI Cookham Wood   

3. Approve the extension of the existing contract to Open Road for the HAVEN victimisation service by 12 months at a value of up to £80,000.    

4. Approve MOPAC funding commitment of up to £75,000 for 2023/24 and £65,000 for 2024/25 to enable a victimisation focused mentoring service to be expanded to HMYOI Feltham. 

5. Approve an additional carry forward of funds totalling £21,444 from the 2022/23 Cookham Wood budget, noting this is in addition to the request to carry forward of funds of £23,556 which is subject to a separate decision. 

6. Approve the use of reserves totalling £140,000 to contribute towards the cost of the project. 

7. Delegate to the Director of Commissioning and Partnerships to award contact to a mentoring provider to deliver trauma informed mentoring support for young people with experiences of victimisation in HMYOI Feltham following a competitive procurement process. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. The Harm and Adverse Experience Network (HAVEN) pilot has been running in Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institution (YOI) since April 2022 and is currently due to end at the end of March 2023. The pilot is primarily looking at the impact of providing a trauma-informed mentoring service which aims to address experiences of victimisation and the potential link to offending behaviour. The pilot to date has also included training for YOI staff to assist in identifying and responding to experiences of trauma and victimisation, as well as training for victim support staff to understand the specific needs when engaging with this cohort. 

2. Funding for the pilot was initially approved by PCD 849 and PCD 880, the procurement and initial contract award for the mentoring services was approved through CEOD 02-2022. Thus far the pilot has been funded by MOPAC, MoJ and Kent PCC and with MOPAC as lead commissioner. 

3. The pilot currently works with boys from London and Kent with experiences of victimisation who are either serving a sentence at Cookham Wood and are due to be released (within 4-6 weeks) or who are being held in custody on remand. If a boy engaging with the service is released, then the service will also support them through the gate and continue in the community with a particular focus on engaging with victim support services. 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. There is a significant evidence base for the ‘victim-offender overlap’ which shows us that those who engage in committing offences (particularly violent offences) are likely to have been a victim of crime in the past. However, individuals who offend are less likely to engage with victim support services which would aim to help the victim to cope and recover from their experiences.  

2. Evidence also shows the link between trauma and adverse childhood experiences and offending behaviour. This pilot aims to address experiences of victimisation and their potential link to offending behaviour. 

3. There are no other services specifically looking at responding to experiences of victimisation of children in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). Although mental health support is available within YOI establishments, the mental health provision is clinically focused and this mentoring pilot enables the boys to build a relationship and trust with the mentor, allowing the boys to gradually open up and show vulnerability.  

4. Importantly, this pilot responds to the needs and experiences of the boys rather than their offending behaviour. This aligns with the evidence base showing the value of Child First approaches. MOPAC have committed to take ‘a Child First approach in all of our work with children and young people’ as part of the current Police and Crime Plan. 

5. Initial findings from case studies and data collected by the Open Road (the service provider in YOI Cookham Wood) demonstrate that the boys find the service valuable and engagement levels are high. 

6. The service is now embedded well into YOI Cookham Wood and the mentors have built strong relationships with other agencies in the YOI. Further investment will ensure that this progress is built upon to continue supporting boys who have experienced victimisation and trauma. 

7. The proposed extension within Cookham Wood and expansion to HMYOI Feltham will increase the total number of boys who engage with a trauma informed service. This will therefore strengthen the evaluation and enable additional learning about the impact of engagement with the mentoring service and victim support services in the community, the impact on wellbeing and the impact on outcomes including behaviour in the YOI and in the community. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. This Decision seeks agreement to extend the existing provision within YOI Cookham Wood for 2023/24  and to procure a provider to expand the provision of support for young victims to deliver in HMYOI Feltham. The cost will be up to £80,000 for continuation in Cookham Wood and £140,000 to expand the provision into Feltham.  

2. The decision also seeks approval to accept funding of up to £80,000 towards the cost of the schemes, of which £15,000 will come from Kent PCC and £65,000 from the GLA New Deal for Young People scale up funding.  

3. The balance of costs will be met through the carry forward of underspend from the Gang Exit (Violence and Exploitation) 2022/23 budget and the Cookham Wood 2022/23 budget. 

4. Further detail of costs and how they will be funded are set out in the table below. 

5. The Cookham Wood Scheme includes the cost of extending the scheme to Kent at a cost of £15,000 the cost of which will be met in full by Kent PCC. In the event Kent PCC opt not to provide funding, the scheme will be limited to London only, and the cost of the scheme reduced to £65,000.  

4. Legal Comments  

1. MOPAC’s general powers are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). Section 3(6) of the 2011 Act provides that MOPAC must “secure the maintenance of the metropolitan police service and secure that the metropolitan police service is efficient and effective.” Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 MOPAC has wide incidental powers to “do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office.” Paragraph 7(2) (a) provides that this includes entering into contracts and other agreements. 

2. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all bids for grant funding. 

3. Legal advice has not been sought and there should be no significant legal implications arising from this report. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. A 12-month contract extension with the existing provider will be completed to enable the continuation of the mentoring pilot in HMYOI Cookham Wood. This course of action has been approved by the Chair of MOPAC Procurement, Contracts, and Grants Oversight Board.  

2. For the delivery of mentoring provision and training in HMYOI Feltham an invitation to quote will be sent out to at least 3 providers. The contract will be issued to the preferred provider following bid evaluation and moderation. 

6. Public Health Approach  

This piece of work has been informed by discussions and feedback from the Violence Reduction Unit and the Greater London Authority. This piece of work aligns with a public health approach to tackling violence by responding to experiences of trauma and victimisation that may be underlying causes for violent offending behaviour.   

7. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.   

8. Equality Comments  

1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

2. An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) has been completed for the project and will be updated according to any emerging evidence.  

9. Background/supporting papers 

• Appendix 1 – CEOD 02-2022 Procurement strategy Cookham Wood pilot 

• Appendix 2 – PCD 880 MoJ funding for Cookham Wood pilot 

• Appendix 3 – CJS 21/22 commissioning decisions