Supporting Teenage Young Offender Fathers: A Path to Resettlement
This initiative focuses on supporting teenage young offender fathers in custody and resettlement, addressing the challenges faced by these vulnerable individuals. Through interventions and programs, the project aims to provide guidance, education, and resources to help these fathers navigate parenthood and reintegrate into society successfully.
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Supporting Teenage Young Offender Fathers in Custody and in Resettlement
Introductions Kate Bulman, Health education lead nurse at Oakhill STC. Anthony George Young Dads Collective Member. Ruben Vemba Young Dads Collective Member. Eva Redman Social Policy Masters Student, Bristol University.
Oakhill STC Oakhill Secure Training Centre is a custodial setting for young male offenders aged 12-17. STC s are provided by private contractors which are commissioned by the Ministry of Justice for vulnerable children up to aged 17 sentenced to custody or remanded to secure accommodation. They are different to YOI s in that there is a higher staff to child ration (3 to 8) and they are smaller (50 to 80 places). There are three STC s in the UK. An estimated 10,000 young people will spend time in secure settings over the course of a year.
Young People in Secure Settings These young people are some of the most troubled and vulnerable in society. Prevalence of mental health problems are three times higher than general population. Most common are anxiety, depression, PTSD, psychosis and self harm (often interrelated). A quarter have a long standing physical complaint (i.e. dental, respiratory,, epilepsy, STI s). A high proportion of young people have a history of substance misuse. Over 66% reporting binge drinking at least once a week, over 80% had used an illegal drug once a month, 83% are regular smokers. More likely to have had contact with social care or been looked after. (Healthcare Standards for Children and Young People in Secure Settings June 2013 Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013). 57% have had at least one time in care/name on CP register/other social service involvement. 75% have absent fathers, 28% come from households where there has been domestic violence, 51% come from households with high levels of deprivation, 12 % have suffered a bereavement within the family. These children face complex and interlocking problems of different kinds... which feed into and reinforce each other . I.e. family conflict leads to emotional behavioural problems in children which heightens family conflict. ( Punishing Disadvantage: Prison Reform Trust 2010)
Young Offenders and Fatherhood There is a strong correlation between being a young offender and becoming a teenage father. Though data is not routinely collected which shows the number of young fathers in custody in the UK, it is estimated that among 15-17 year old offenders around 12% are actual or expectant fathers (Prisons Inspectorate estimate) and among offenders between the ages of 18 and 20, 19% have children. This compares to a figure of around 4% in the general population of 18 to 20 year old men (Ministry of Justice 2012. Becoming a young offender and becoming a father at a young age have both been consistently linked to a young man experiencing a diverse range of measures of deprivation . Babies being born to very young parents who are multiply disadvantaged are at risk of going on to be multiply disadvantaged themselves.
In Impact of childhood experiences on future health and wellbeing : National Household Survey of Adverse Childhood Experiences and their Relationship with Resilience to Health Harming Behaviours in England Bellis MA, et al BMC Medicine 2014 found the following If ones childhood includes four or more of the following (9% of population in the UK) Child Maltreatment Verbal abuse Physical abuse Sexual abuse Childhood Household Included Parental Separation Domestic Violence Mental Illness Alcohol Abuse Drug Use More likely to lead to health harming behaviours. Compared to people with no ACE s, those with four or more ACE s are: 7 times more likely to have been involved in violence in the last year 11 times more likely to have used heroin/crack or been incarcerated 2 times more likely to binge drink and have a poor diet 3 times more likely to be a current smoker 5 times more likely to have had sex while under 16 years old 6 times more likely to have had or caused an unplanned teenage pregnancy
Fatherhood programme Started in November 2010 from within the healthcare department. At the time this was provided by the NHS. Now is provided by a private contractor. Developed at Oakhill STC, with support from Milton Keynes Brook (Sexual Health Advice Service for under 25 s) Emerged organically...changed and developed over time Targets primarily young fathers and potential fathers. Nurse running the programme won FPA/Brook award Sexual Health Professional of the Year in March 2013, young father expert by experience who supports programme was awarded Brook/FPA Young person of the year and programme was awarded Youth Justice Board Effective Practice award for best design.
Overview of programme The Fatherhood Group is group work programme attended by up to 7 young fathers/potential fathers weekly for a period of 6 weeks. It is run by the health education lead nurse at Oakhill with the support of a male outreach worker from Brook Milton Keynes. It is a flexible, rolling programme and young people who have attended one group can be referred to the next if they would benefit from more support/and or can offer support to other members of the group. The three areas that the course focuses on are: Parenting Relationships Oneself Use of peer educators or expert s by experience (young mothers and fathers) an integral part of programme in custody. Electronic baby overnight, Storybook Dads if they are interested Fatherhood course provides education and a space to discuss, share and reflect and is a motivating context for the young men Once young men have taken part in the programme/while they are taking part, a measure of success is if they engage with services and access other offers of support. This includes 1:1 sessions for some with a therapist from Milton Keynes Women s Aid to address relationship issues, but also other kinds of support i.e. to address mental health, substance misuse, education and employment needs.
The Young fathers Experience of working with these young men has shown that the issues of fatherhood, childhood, parenting and relationships are important to them and areas that they want to explore and understand. Most boys are acutely aware of the negative impact that inadequate parenting, father absence and violence can have on a child s life as many have experienced these themselves. Young people attending the course desire to be positive and involved fathers and take the issue of relationships and fatherhood seriously. Often say that they want to give their child the upbringing they never had. Young men benefit from reflecting on their past parenting and family relationships and learning about parenting and relationships in order to work on developing more positive lives for themselves. Enjoyable to work with. Positive, insightful, hopeful, funny, energetic.
One to one support An increasing part of the work is linking with/meeting with other relevant professionals within custody and with family and community professionals in order to set up support for the post- custody period. All young people are seen for 1:1 support. As part of this they complete a workbook which relates to aspects of the course. Nurse or their unit key worker offers help with this. If they have a child/pregnant girlfriend they are supported with ensuring visits are organised properly.
Youth Justice Board Effective Practice Award 2013: Resettlement Pilot Project 2014-2015 Looked at the post-custody period The YJB judging panel felt that follow up once the boys had left custody was crucial . Building links with the community in terms of supporting the boys to resettle once they had left custody was seen as important. Aim of the pilot was to find out how the young people applied their learning in the real world outside of the constructed environment of an STC through following up on them once they have left custody and to find out what kind of follow through was conducted by YOT workers, social workers and other professionals in the community. Young Dad s Council (Now Young Dad s Collective) members Anthony and Ruben met with two young fathers over a period of approximately six months. Offered peer mentoring support, Kate liaised with community professionals.
Preliminary Findings Young Fathers engaged well with mentors from YDC. Their personal qualities as YDC members, status as fathers, ages, and own experiences was a reason for this. Lack of provision of support relating to status as a father from professional services. Sidelining and surveillance. Social service involvement with babies. Sole support/ focus on mothers as parents. Combination of being sidelined and perceived as a risk for young fathers, with a lack of being engaged/support: Age of mother/history of offending/substance misuse/lack of family support all given as reasons why effort not put in to engage father. Parenthood was a real incentive for young men to develop a more positive pro- social lifestyle and YDC mentors helped them with this, but sidelining and surveillance played a part in deincetivising, making it very difficult for the young fathers and any anti-social behaviour perceived very negatively by professionals leading not to increased support but increased sidelining and surveillance. Some professionals could be sympathetic to young fathers but felt powerless. Willing to pay for a service that could support young fathers.
Young Dads Council Mentors Young Dads Council Mentor Anthony George Own experiences as a young father. How did the young fathers engage with you? Their attitudes/emotions/aspirations relating to being a parent. What stood in the way of them reaching their aspirations: Eg Internal Barriers: e.g., poor self control, lack of resilience, lack of positive role models, reliance on substances. Eg External Barriers: Lack of family support, lack of support in addressing internal barriers, attitudes of professionals, housing/financial issues. Sidelining, surveillance, support very useful way of looking at provision in the community.
Current implementation of learning from resettlement project within custody: Requires further development. Putting young men on the map as a father Liaising with/meeting with community services/baby s mother/wider family re planning support on resettlement for young men as fathers/expectant fathers prior to them leaving custody. This includes professionals working with the baby s mother/her/ the baby s social workers if possible. Help with linking to local services. Point to what work might be useful going forward. Write reports, show examples of his work. Real problem is that there may not be any suitable services locally. Risk Assessments Do not make unquantifiable predications from within custody on risk/resource issue. Fatherhood Programme is strength based and capacity building and can only report on engagement with the programme. (In some instances safe guarding referrals needs to be made based on disclosures made by the young people on the course). Timeline Emphasise the fact that risk/resources issue is likely to change depending on level of support and also growing maturing and that it s a dynamic process (redemption!)
Eva Redman: Social Policy Masters Student, Bristol University. Literature review Preliminary findings from research Observations of current fatherhood group
The future from here Continue with and develop fatherhood work in custody. Improve and develop support from custody to community. Follow/support young fathers from custody into community to learn more about their journeys and what helps and what doesn t to help in order to improve practice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SiylvmFI_8
