Award for city youth crime scheme

A SCHEME that works with young burglars to keep them out of prison, stop them reoffending and find better lives has won a national award.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Jul 2010, 14:38 BST
Updated 29th Jul 2010, 14:39 BST

The Leeds Council scheme has won a Howard League for Penal Reform Community Programme Award.

The council's Youth Offending Service's Programmes Team won the award for the best community programme in the children and young people category.

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The youth offending team took on the task of creating an intervention scheme that would work with young people convicted of burglaries to help prevent them from re-offending and provide an alternative to prison.

The three programmes are:

Impact – which helps 10 to 13-year-olds by getting them to empathise with their victims, address peer pressure and help them find positive ways forward;

Breakin' Out – a programme to help young people over 14 address why they decide to burgle and to understand their victims;

Short Break – a programme of group sessions for young people aged over 14 to understand their thought processes, to develop empathy with victims and plan for the future.

Related topics:Leeds Council