The YJB is forming a partnership with the Foyer Federation which will improve the resettlement opportunities for young people leaving custody, and reduce their chances of reoffending.
The Foyer Federation [opens in new window] works with a select group of housing association investors and helps target the accommodation needs of hard to reach young people, supplies mentoring services, arranges family reconciliation services and offers resettlement support. Delivered through integrated learning and accommodation centres, often known as Foyers, the Foundation operates in over 130 urban and rural communities across the UK, providing safe, quality assured environments, where experts reconnect up to 10,000 vulnerable young people each year with personal development opportunities.
With the YJB the Federation is developing two flagship foyers in the YJB’s resettlement consortia: groups of local authorities and custodial establishments in North West and South West England, who are already breaking new ground through their collborative approach to resettlement.
Frances Done, Chair of the YJB, said:
“I welcome our new strategic partnership with the Foyer Federation, which will help us achieve more suitable accommodation for young people who leave custody.
“The YJB is committed to improve the resettlement of young people and this new partnership will help equip them with life skills and knowledge they need to contribute to society, build a positive future, and stay away from crime and anti-social behaviour.”
Colin Falconer, Director of Innovation, the Foyer Federation, said:
“The Foyer Federation is delighted to announce a strategic partnership with the Youth Justice Board. Over the next two years we will be working together to explore how Foyers can help to reduce the number of young people involved in criminal behaviour and help them make the transition to an independent, crime free, adulthood.”
Young people on Detention and Training Orders who are being assisted through the YJB’s resettlement consortia are already benefitting from enhanced levels of support, aiding their chance of making a positive contribution in life.
It is anticipated the YJB’s resettlement consortia will help local authorities improve suitable accommodation and target gaps in education and training more effectively.
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Notes to editors
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The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales. We work to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people under the age of 18, and to ensure that custody for them is safe, secure, and addresses the causes of their offending behaviour.
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Specifically, we advise the Secretaries of State for Justice and for Children, Schools and Families on the operation of, and standards for, the youth justice system; monitor the performance of the youth justice system; purchase places for, and place, children and young people remanded or sentenced to custody; identify and promote effective practice; make grants to local authorities or other bodies to support the development of effective practice; commission research and publish information.
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In the SW a group of local authorities will be working with HMYOI Ashfield, Eastwood Park and Vinney Green. In the NW the resettlement consortia will be made up of a number of the greater Manchester authorities working with HMYOI Hindley.
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For over a decade, the Foyer Federation has helped turn young people’s experiences of disadvantage into solutions that support their transition into independent adulthood. We develop transformational programmes and campaigns that fill gaps in community services and inspire policy and decision makers to make a more effective investment in young people. The Foyer Federation is now exploring how the holistic Foyer approach can be stretched and targeted to improve services for those young people whose journey to adulthood is particularly difficult; e.g. care leavers, young offenders and other vulnerable young adults. For further information and all press enquiries please contact Laura Parker on 020 7430 2212.
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