Background
Dr James Alexander from the School of Social Sciences and Professions at London Metropolitan University and Professor John Pitts from Bedfordshire University were commissioned to evaluate the effectiveness of Islington Council’s current Youth Safety Strategy (2020-2025).
About the Project
The review assessed how the current Islington Youth Safety Strategy is helping young people stay safe. The evaluation considered the progress towards achieving the strategy’s objectives, including: protecting children and young people from violence, abuse and exploitation, fostering stronger and safer communities, and building resilience among children and young people. This included analysing whether there had been an increase in educational achievement and engagement, a reduction in suspensions and exclusions, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting times and disproportionality within the youth justice system and education system and fewer young people offending and at risk of exploitation.
How the evaluation was carried out
The research team:
- Analysed existing youth safety related monitoring and evaluation data collected by the council.
- Interviewed young people from Islington.
- Interviewed bereaved parents and family members.
- Interviewed members of the criminal justice system including judges and the police.
- Interviewed teachers and staff from council commissioned services.
Outcomes and outputs
The key deliverables of the research project were:
- Full evaluation report.
- Summary report.
- A presentation to council members and senior staff
- Workshops for staff and council partners
Image credit: Islington Council
Project Team
London Met staff:
External collaborator:
More information
The social and economic context differed from when Islington Council developed its youth safety strategy. In 2020 the country was in the midst of a series of COVID lockdowns, and although these contributed to a 25% reduction in youth violence locally, the lasting impact on people’s mental health and wider social interactions was uncertain. As the nation emerged from the Covid restrictions, individuals, households and organisations, including local authorities have found their finances significantly impacted by the cost of living crisis. This period has coincided with a gradual rise in youth violence, at a time when the local authority has channeled significant resources into the delivery of their current Youth Safety Strategy.
This evaluation came at a time when five young people had been murdered in the borough in just over a year, one young person died as a result of a police chase and another committed suicide. There were therefore concerns that although significant effort has been put into making young people safer in Islington, young people are still at considerable risk of experiencing serious youth violence. It was clear in speaking to young people as part of this evaluation that many are living in fear of what might happen to them as they move around the borough. It was commonplace for a young person to know someone who had been attacked and there was very little belief among those who contributed to the evaluation, that enough was being done to address their concerns.
The evaluation considered the progress toward the strategy’s objectives through the following questions:
- How has progress towards implementing the strategy contributed to reducing the risk young people face?
- How are the identified actions supporting the young people and families most at risk of exposure to youth violence?
- What additional needs or risks have emerged since the strategy was published, and how are they/can they be addressed?
Quantitative and Secondary Data Analysis
Performance reports compiled as part of the council’s processes, school exclusion, youth justice and local crime data were also reviewed.
Qualitative Data Collection
Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with key stakeholders (see table below for details) to understand what the council and its partners are doing to enhance youth safety, what is working well, what needs improving and to assess potential future risks. The majority of interviews and focus groups were conducted virtually using Teams. Where respondents expressed a preference, interviews were conducted face-to-face. The data collected was coded thematically using NVIVO. The focus of the empirical data collection was to understand:
- Staff members and stakeholders’ views on the effectiveness of the current interventions in helping to reduce the risks young people face.
- Staff members’ and stakeholders’ future concerns.
- Parents’ views on the effectiveness of the current efforts to address the risks young people face.
- Young people’s understanding of the risks they face and the effectiveness of current efforts to keep them safe.
| Table 4: Evaluation Participants | Number of participants |
|---|---|
| Young people | 30 |
| Parents and family members | 4 |
| VCS staff | 4 |
| Police officers | 3 |
| Youth court judges | 2 |
| Local authority/NHS staff responsible for action plan delivery | 17 |
| Council members | 2 |
The team produced an evaluation report, and presented to and ran workshops with the local Youth Justice Board to identify how to implement the recommendations, which included:
- Reviewing successful violence prevention programmes to understand and then prioritise implementing interventions that help young people feel safe from the immediate threat of violence.
- Further engaging and empowering residents to help find locally based solutions.
- Working with the police to improve young people’s experiences of stop and search and other police enforcement activities.
- Doing more to tackle the over representation of certain groups within the youth and criminal justice system.
- Working with partners to help develop more financially sustainable funding models for interventions and key services.
