In September 2021, YMCA Trinity Group’s “Family Respect Project” was commissioned by Cambridgeshire PCC to deliver Respect’s Young People’s Programme (RYPP), which supports families experiencing child/adolescent to parent violence/abuse (CAPVA). The project has been part of an ongoing study aiming to identify whether the programme is effective in reducing police call outs to CAPVA incidents.
An initial analysis of the project showed the first signs of success, with 14 of the 15 original sample families identifying a 100% reduction in police call outs, and a 92% reduction for the remaining families. Of course, a reduction in police call outs does not in itself equate to evidence of behaviour change, but the study also identified changes in other patterns of behaviour for the young people who had engaged with the programme. It went on to identify a 100% reduction in reported missing incidents for 3 young people known to Operation Make Safe, the Met Police response to exploitation. 12 months on from programme completion there have been no CAPVA related police call outs or missing incidents reported for any of these families.
Since then, an additional 15 families have been included in the research with findings similar to the previous sample. In 6 out of 7 cases within the second cohort there was a 100% reduction in missing incidents 6 months after programme completion.
The remaining family was facing a more complicated situation, with substantial concerns that the young person was facing criminal exploitation. Police call outs did reduce but did not completely cease, but the young person’s missing incidents have completely ceased since the programme ended. These outcomes suggest an increase in the young person’s safety, and perhaps a link between the programme and reduced levels of exploitation from organised criminal gangs.
The reduction in police call outs has so far saved Cambridgeshire Constabulary in excess of £96,000, which has also contributed to wider savings of an additional £300,000+ for the criminal justice system.
This project will run until the end of March 2023 and measures a range of outcomes that we’ll continue to report on.