Nottinghamshire project helping guide troubled youth offenders through custody
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The Divert Plus project aims to have an impact while a young person is in police custody or within 24 hours of their release – a crucial time when they may be more open to accepting help and support from others.
The project will provide new teams in the Mansfield and Nottingham Custody Suites to complement existing custody work delivered through the NHS liaison and diversion team, offering mental health support to young people.
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Hide AdDivert Plus works with young people aged 10-17 who have been arrested offences including involvement with drugs, weapon possession, inappropriate sexual behaviour and violence towards others.
It is funded though the Home Office’s Youth Endowment Fund, after a bid by Nottinghamshire Police’s violence reduction unit and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire councils.
Participation with the project is voluntary, although it is offered to all young people who independently offend.
If they decide to engage with the programme, they are provided with speech and language and wellbeing assessments.
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Hide AdThese support them and allow access to a tailored prevention intervention, which may also include signposting to specialist services such as mental health services and substance misuse services.
Sonia Burton, Divert Plus project manager, said: “Many young people have undiagnosed difficulties which impact the way they communicate and react to situations.
“Having the opportunity to reach young people when they are first arrested and placed in police custody enables us to screen them for their emotional wellbeing and any speech and language difficulties.
“This allows us to provide the right level of support and intervention, preventing them from entering and/or escalating in the criminal justice system.”
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Hide AdCurrently, 29 young people are part of the Divert Plus pilot scheme, which started in May.
Divert Plus works closely with the speech and language therapy service to ensure young offenders have the services needed to understand the judicial process and the consequences of their actions.
This is because key findings from a previous study of children on the Health and Justice Pathway revealed 82 per cent of young people referred to the programme had difficulties understanding information, while 54 per cent were also known to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.