Youth Endowment Fund Update - Welcome to the Birmingham Team

MST-UK & I in partnership with four Local Authorities and Children’s Trusts in England, have established four new teams through a successful bid to the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The YEF is a government fund focused on preventing children and young people aged 10-14 years becoming involved in violence and criminal exploitation. This project is also being supported through an external evaluation from Warwick University.

Three teams opened in 2020 (Kirklees, Sandwell and Nottingham) and MST-UK & I are very excited to announce that the last of the four Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) teams has opened in Birmingham. In partnership with Birmingham Children’s Trust the team launched at the beginning of February and is in addition to the two existing teams in Birmingham. Supervisor Alyce is joined by therapists Gelareh, Rozeena and Paul (a fourth therapist post is being recruited to at present). The team are excited to be in post and working towards achieving successful outcomes for their cases. As a new supervisor Alyce cited that the YEF Peer Group has been a very useful resource to her. It is chaired by a different MST Expert each time and allows for the four YEF supervisors to discuss challenges and share success stories.

The primary focus for treatment is children at risk of offending and/or criminal exploitation. Due to the conditions of the YEF funding the model targets children aged 10-14 and has enhanced focus on community engagement and plans for sustainability. At present the team is working with children at the top of the referral age range and will be promoting that the new team accepts referrals from the age of 10 to stakeholders, as this is different to the two existing teams. Current research has highlighted the importance of working with younger children who may become involved in criminal activity or exploitation.