Supporting and protecting young people in Croydon is at the heart of a new council initiative to make the borough a safer place to live, work and visit.
The Youth Crime Prevention Action Plan, to be presented to cabinet on 20 October, is about improving outcomes for young people, and will focus on four key themes.
These include prevention through early support; intervention by helping to provide better opportunities; protecting young people and supporting victims, and engaging with them on the crime issues of concern to them.
The themes will provide a framework for short- and longer-term work to reduce youth crime and improve the lives of children and young people.
Street-based youth work, anti-gangs work, safer schools programmes, and an inclusive family approach are all part of the initiative, which also includes taking a holistic approach to combating youth crime.
“Croydon has more than 37,000 young people aged 10 to 17, and only 600 have come to the attention of our youth offending service (YOS). This is just 1.6% of this population.
“However, we want to support all of them, and tackling youth violence is a key priority.
“This plan is a good example of our YOS, along with other internal and external partners, working together to help change young people’s lives, reduce levels of offending, and make Croydon a safer place.
“Overall youth crime is reducing, and we want to ensure this work will help increase community awareness of what is being done to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour, and to improve public confidence.”
Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice
