The West Midlands Young Offenders Project

‘Many Young Offenders have poor literacy and numeracy skills. Just under a third have basic skills deficits. Nearly three-quarters were excluded from school at some stage, and 63% were unemployed at time of arrest.’
www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk

Shannon Trust has secured three years of funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to develop a reading network for Young Offenders’ Institutions (YOI’s) in the West Midlands. The aim of the network is to identify and find solutions to the specific issues met when running the Toe by Toe Reading Plan in a YOI. We aim to:

  • engage more young offenders more effectively in the Toe by Toe Reading Plan;
  • improve continuity by tracking learners and mentors as they are moved through the YOI system;
  • recruit and train suitable mentors;
  • find solutions to the problems of non-readers on short sentences;
  • find new ways to ensure the sustainability of the Toe by Toe Reading Plan in every establishment.

The funding has provided for the part-time position of Project Manager for which
Susie O’Hagan was appointed as Project Manager for the West Midlands Reading Network in January 2008.

HMYOI Brinsford is the Hub of the Network and initially reaches out to the four main recipients of its young offender transfers – HMYOI Stoke Heath, HMYOI Swinfen Hall, HMYOI Werrington and HMYOI Thorn Cross.

The project will identify good practice and facilitate communication between all those involved. It will help raise awareness of the Reading Plan as well as collating and analysing relevant data. We hope to establish the effect that taking part in the
Toe by Toe Reading Plan can have on re-offending, as well as identifying best practice guidelines for delivery.

Another aspect of the development of the Network is to bring in and involve the Youth Offending Teams and Probation Services to ensure that learners are able to continue the Reading Plan after release.

We will also work to raise the profile of the Reading Plan across the Prison Estate by making and maintaining contact with Governors, Resettlement Officers, Regional Offender Managers and Heads of Learning and Skills.

We aim to engage with, and track the progress of 600 Young Offenders over the next three years and to roll out the Network firstly across the YOI estate and then into adult establishments.

2nd Floor
Royal London House
22-25 Finsbury Square
London
EC2A 1DX

T: 020 7374 8855
E: enquiries@shannontrust.org.uk

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