We spoke with Katie Moore, a Service Manager in Intake at Southwark Youth Justice Service (YJS), about her reflections on managing their Turnaround programme in its first year.
Tell us a bit about Southwark YJS and how you decided to use Turnaround?
Southwark YJS employs a systemic approach to support our children and families. We operate with our Extra-Familial Harm team and alongside Family Early Help within Children and Family Services. Our structure includes 7 teams across Intake Prevention, Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs), Court, and Specialist and Post-court (Custody and Community).
Historically, our prevention offer supported young people previously known to us or who had become involved in complex situations or exhibited serious behaviours. The Turnaround programme, however, allowed us to lower our threshold and adopt the STAIRS model to deliver whole-family support. The STAIRS model is a collaborative framework that helps to create change in complex patterns of behaviour through identifying causes and completing interventions to achieve jointly agreed targets. To offer support at the earliest opportunity, we mostly targeted young people on police bail or under police investigation, and worked with YJS police, school police officers, MASH, and Family Early Help to identify referrals.
What were some of the successes/challenges you've faced?
Reflecting on Southwark’s Turnaround journey, I’m pleased to report more successes than challenges. Transitioning to the STAIRS whole-family approach represented a significant shift from our traditional prevention model, so our initial challenges included training staff and integrating the assessments into our system. Expanding our knowledge of resources for younger siblings and parents was also essential. While we knew Turnaround would meet a critical need, we had to carefully plan how to publicise the program and establish a referral pathway within our existing structure.
Our greatest achievement has been the positive impact on young people and families -it has been an absolute privilege to work alongside them to create lasting change! Only 3% of our cohort have subsequently entered the Youth Justice System, and families report stronger relationships, better school engagement, more trust in professionals, and increased confidence - all while addressing unmet needs.
What are your reflections now that the funding is coming to an end?
It’s unfortunate that funding for the Turnaround Programme seems to be imminently ending, raising concerns for the young people who might have benefited from the programme. Nevertheless, I am immensely grateful for the programme which allowed us to reach families otherwise unsupported. The program has given us new perspectives and creative ways to implement individualised and sustainable, whole-family solutions. Turnaround also provided fresh insight into the lengthy journeys families face before accessing the right support at the right time, and has reinforced our commitment to timely, effective assistance.
What are your thoughts on the Turnaround report? Did anything surprise you?
I’m pleased the report highlights the programme’s positive impact; with 83% of participants avoiding further contact with the Youth Justice System, the success is clear and mirrors our experience in Southwark. It has also interesting to see how other local authorities adapted Turnaround to meet local need. One surprise was the data’s focus solely on referred young people, without accounting for broader family networks also supported. In Southwark, for example, once a young person met the criteria, we applied the STAIRS model to provide interventions to the entire family - often extending support to as many as six family members. We consider that failing to consider the whole family outcomes means that the project has helped many more people than are officially identified.
What's next for Southwark YJS?
Although the Turnaround funding is due to end soon, Southwark YJS remains committed to early intervention and prevention. We’ve seen the programme’s success and will continue to offer this support. Our OOCD team is now being trained in the STAIRS model, and our Turnaround team in the new Prevention and Diversion Assessment Tool, to meet workflow needs. Without the additional funding we will not be as resourced to commission as much individual support for young people and families, but we will continue our whole family support and do our best to keep children from entering the youth justice system.