What is the Respect Young People’s Service?
The Respect Young People’s Service supports young people who use harm in their close relationships.
Respect is a pioneering domestic abuse organisation, committed to developing safe, effective work with perpetrators, male victims and young people who use violence. The charity was founded in 2000 and has built a strong reputation for expertise in the sector.
‘RYPS' (Respects Young Peoples Service) was established in 2012 and like the wider organisation, has experienced significant growth. Whilst the team’s primary focus is Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (CAPVA), they have also developed pioneering work around Teenage Relationship Abuse.
What does the Respect Young People’s Service do?
The Respect Young People’s programme
Our flagship intervention is the Respect Young People’s Programme (RYPP). Created in 2016, the RYPP is an intervention for families where children or young people aged between 8 and 18 are abusive or violent towards the people close to them, particularly their parents or carers.
The programme works with young people and their families, encouraging everyone to take a role in stopping the abuse and learning respectful ways of managing conflict and intimacy.
Teenage relationship abuse
RYPS have created an 11-session toolkit to address teenage relationship abuse called ‘Dating Detox’. Dating Detox works to reduce the harm caused by abuse in teenage intimate relationships. The toolkit addresses managing risk, with clear advice about risk assessment and safety planning. It also includes sections on promoting healthy relationships and behaviour change.
We deliver training to practitioners to support the delivery of Dating Detox and by using a whole school approach, we can support the delivery of relationship and sex education lessons as part of a planned programme of personal, social and Health education.
Influencing and innovating in the sector
We use a multi-layered approach to effect change:
- We work nationally to support local areas: We support local areas, services and frontline practitioners to develop, implement, and deliver responsive services to children, young people and their families.
- We raise awareness: We use knowledge, evidence and insights gained from our work, and the lived experiences of the children, young people and families to raise awareness of CAPVA so that families know how and where they can get the support they need.
- We drive innovation and support best practice: We work directly with stakeholders across the sector, to develop the evidence base, so that practice and policy evolve in ways that continuously centre the needs and experiences of young people in their development.
- We advocate for informed strategies and approaches at national, regional and local levels: As part of Respect, the lead national organisation in this field, we are uniquely placed to ensure the needs of young people using violence in their close relationships and those affected are heard at national, regional and local levels to ensure that strategy, policy and services remain responsive to their needs.
If you have any questions about our work with young people, you can contact the team.