Are you worried about your child getting involved in crime?
Parents who feel their children may be at risk of becoming involved in crime or anti-social behaviour are being invited to call a special parental phone-in today, which is being organised by Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Team.
On Thursday 31 May between 4pm-9pm dedicated parenting practitioners will be waiting on the line to answer any questions or help provide support. If you have a question or would like to talk to one of the team you can call in confidence on 01788 331256.
The team would like also like to use the phone-in to get feedback, either from parents whose children may have already been involved with the Youth Offending Team or parents who just want to have their views heard and acted upon.
The Youth Offending Team works with children and young people believed to be at risk of becoming involved in crime or anti-social behaviour. It aims to divert children and young people from developing patterns of persistent or more serious offending.
Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Team has three specialist workers who work with parents and family members of young people who have offended. The service operates on a voluntary basis and is open to everyone with a child aged between 10 and 17 years, regardless of whether their child is involved with the Youth Offending Team or not.
Parents can either self-refer or be referred by an agency that they may be already working with such as health, police, victim support, education social work service or children’s centre. The service also offers a lunchtime drop-in, parenting support, educational groups and one-to-one support in addition to providing links to many other services.
Vicki Barnes, Team Leader for Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Team, said: “It can feel like a huge problem being a parent and having to deal with your children when they are causing problems in the home or getting into trouble. The YOT parenting service can offer help to any family who are having issues with their teenagers or just need a space to let off steam.”
She added: “The purpose of the parents’ phone-in is to offer parents and family members support as well as receiving feedback on the service and enabling the wider community to input into the delivery of the service.”
If you are unable to ring the phone-in but would like to contact the Youth Offending Team email your comments to yot@warwickshire.gov.uk More information about the team can be found on http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/yot