Levelling the Playing Field - Youth Justice Board & Alliance of Sport
Project Details
This ground-breaking initiative is aimed at using the power of sport and physical activity to engage and improve health and life outcomes for over 11,200 ethnically diverse children who are more likely to enter, or who are already disproportionately involved, in the Criminal Justice System across England and Wales.
It is known that ethnically diverse children, who are overrepresented in lower socioeconomic groups, are significantly less likely to be engaged in physical activities.
Across each area of the project, a public health (Three Tier) approach will be delivered.
Tier 3: ‘Reduce harm’ - by supporting intensive mentoring programmes in each area for high-risk ethnically diverse children; training 60 mentors in a Level 3 Public Health and Trauma Responsive Approaches to engage with over 1,200 children, using sport and physical activity to build self-worth and provide needed support and guidance over a significant and predetermined period of time. The children will be introduced to sport and physical activity programmes, either pre-existing or specifically developed by the local delivery partners. The benefits accruing from these physical activity programmes and supportive approach will reach the children’s family and wider peer community networks.
Tier 2: ‘Reverse harm’ - by supporting up to 40 local Sport for Development initiatives (10 in each area) which have been identified as having the ability and scope to use sport and physical activity to amplify the engagement of ethnically diverse children (and their families and peers) both at risk and involved with the CJS. In return for the training and support, local delivery partners will deliver one ‘open access’ session of sport and physical activity per week, providing circa 6,000 sessions of sport and physical activity. Reviews of training and support needs will be carried out to create a bespoke package of training, support and guidance to help engage over 10,000 ethnically diverse children in supporting efforts to deter crime. The provision at the Tier 2 level will support a range of activities from diversionary to delivering, targeted to adaptive programmes in the secure estate. This will ultimately provide empirical evidence on what works and what does not work.
Tier 1: ‘Prevent harm’ - by reaching the wider communities and disseminating awareness of the project’s success stories, celebrating positive role models, sharing good practice and delivering workshops and networking events. These efforts will generate a multiplier effect seeking optimal support and opportunities for ethnically diverse children at risk of entering the CJS, their families and their peers. We will map out opportunities to increase the engagement of ethnically diverse children in sport and physical activity.
The project will also train over 1,000 individuals across Tiers 2 and 3 through a range of workshops and accredited and non-accredited programmes of learning.
This project will target three of the cities in the West Midlands. It is also focused on improving health and wellbeing and life outcomes for the ethnically diverse young people of the region and nationally, directly supporting Birmingham 2022 mission.
Start Date: 10th February 2022