Community Safety Projects

Coleraine Community Safety Partnership’s Anti Social, Behaviour Initiative (ASBI)

Project Summary
The Anti Social Behaviour Initiative was designed in 2006 and built into the Community Safety Action plan 2006-2008.The Initiative is based on 3 key elements to Educate, Empower and Enforce the Anti Social Behaviour to bring about a lasting difference.

The key players involved in the Initiative are:-

• Coleraine Community Safety Partnership
• PSNI
• Youth Justice Agency
• Council
• NIHE
• Social Services
• Youth Council
• Youth Service
• Youth Forum
• Community
• Fire Service
• Northern Drugs Area Team
• Secondary Schools

The Initiative is set up as a Community Safety Task group and is serviced through 2 sub groups (2006). From October 2006 the Anti Social Behaviour Education Programme was delivered in Coleraine College. This was established in Partnership between Coleraine CSP and the PSNI through the CASE programme. Since then almost 200 pupils have experienced the Education Programme in secondary schools.

Through Empowerment the Initiative seeks to leave a legacy of knowledge and support in communities. To enable this, a unique accredited training unit was written entitled “Challenging Anti Social Behaviour” and is now being delivered in partnership with Workers Education Association. This will produce a bank of community facilitators who can take the challenge into local communities to generate a lasting change.

The final strand of the Initiative has been the most challenging where an Enforcement Sub group was established to develop co-ordinated enforcement of Anti Social Behaviour hotspots. The inaugural meeting took place in September 2006 and since then steady progress has been made to develop understanding and an agreed approach to tackling the Anti Social Behaviour. The Enforcement focuses on Anti Social Behaviour linked with underage drinking and fosters a welfare approach to address the problem and all the related issues to the Anti Social Behaviour taking place. The Enforcement plan involves an agreed enforcement operation mainly between PSNI, Council and NIHE and a range of support and services are identified to provide in the hotspot area. There is a formal Youth Intervention Programme established in each hotspot area which provides to street youth workers to work with all young people in the area and the Community Safety Co-ordinator liaises with the local community to identify other support services that may be needed.

The ASB Initiative has brought about an Education programme, an accredited ASB facilitator training and developed a Co-ordinated enforcement in 2 hotspot areas throughout the borough through unprecedented levels of co-operation and an integrated approach to the problem.
 
Project Description

Background and History
Coleraine Community Safety Partnership sowed the seed of development for the Anti Social Behaviour Initiative in 2005 when they funded the design of the Big Bad World CD Rom. Completed by Coleraine Youth Forum this is a CD Rom which explores Anti Social Behaviour and was written by young people for young people. It was the first educational resource established for later use in the Education Programme. In 2006 the Partnership considered the Anti Social Behaviour Action plan that was developed and agreed that there was merit in developing the Anti Social Behaviour Initiative and integrated it into the Community Safety Action plan 2006-2008. The Initiative was established following an Information session and it is currently is managed through a TASK group and 2 sub groups. A Terms of Reference where established which outlines the purpose and structures under which the Initiative can grow.  The Idea of the Initiative is to address the problem and the related factors of it to bring about a lasting difference. The Initiative requests a long term investment from all stakeholders to bring about a generational change throughout the community. It is based on the premise that with rights comes responsibility and respect and if there is any likelihood of causing harassment, alarm or distress to another individual (not of the same household) by imposing your rights that this could be considered anti social in nature. Coleraine Community Safety Partnership facilitates the sub group as part of the Anti Social Behaviour initiative.

Vision and purpose
There are 3 main elements to the Anti Social Behaviour Initiative namely
1. Education    2. Enforcement    3. Empowerment
The Anti Social Behaviour Initiative provides a co-ordinated approach to the Community Safety priority of Anti Social Behaviour. It will disseminate information initially through young people and schools of the choices they have to make and their consequences or benefits of choosing the right behaviour. The Young people are the entry point for this information to be shared with all ages and sections of the community. The Initiative co-ordinates the enforcement of Anti Social Behaviour hotspots and invests in the young people by empowering them to educate their peers in the future.

Education and Empowerment Idea
The Education and Empowerment plan was to bring an Education programme initially to young people and to compliment this with the empowerment of youth, community, statutory and voluntary representatives to act as community facilitators and bring the challenge into the local community.
A specially designed Education programme was taken to secondary schools in the borough and delivered in either 1 hour or two 30 minute sessions to year 11 pupils.

Enforcement Idea
To plan, deliver and review integrated enforcement of Anti Social Behaviour by establishing an Operations group (the Enforcement sub group) to systematically address pockets of Anti Social Behaviour from a welfare perspective. The idea is to establish a co-ordinated group of statutory/ voluntary/ all stakeholders to agree co-ordinated action on hotspots of Anti Social Behaviour. It involves an integrated plan of potential problems to be encountered before enforcement takes place and to agree how enforcement will take place. The follow up on whether it has addressed the Anti Social Behaviour will also be co-ordinated post enforcement. The approach considers the criminal aspect of the Anti Social Behaviour and equally the welfare and health repercussions. Where the focus is young people, especially where underage drinking is identified, there is a need to present the young people to their parents and to identify the problems associated with the home that the young people are carrying out this Anti Social activity. The first port of call is to integrate back into the community through the Youth Intervention Programme however where this is not the choice of the perpetrator all enforcement opportunities will be considered as deterrents. There is room to use ABCs which if broken with persistent ASB would become ASBOS however this will be considered on an individual basis. There may be small resources to redress physical or environmental factors which contribute to the problem.
 
Methodology
The Anti Social Behaviour Initiative’s approach is to focus on the problem and the related factors by providing co-ordination and support through Education, Enforcement and Empowerment. The method employed is to bring about long term investment in challenging Anti Social Behaviour in the community.

The method was to co-ordinate working groups to focus either on Education/ Empowerment or Enforcement to identify and deliver clear targets to challenge Anti Social Behaviour. The Community Safety Co-ordinator maintained the structures and communication along with the delivery of the Anti Social Behaviour action plan.

The method employed was to use two sub groups to meet on a monthly basis or as required to identify the priority issues to be addressed and the best way to achieve it.

The Education sub group had to consider how to introduce the programme into schools along with the study materials for it. It also identified the best source of evaluating its impact. The design and development of specialist training was also considered by the Education/ Empowerment sub group.

Enforcement methodology
The Enforcement sub group needed to consider the idea of working together to enforce the problem but also the broader picture of support and services needed to help the community challenge the Anti Social Behaviour. They needed to consider information sharing issues, the impact on the organisations and their resources, potential problems that would emerge in target areas. Fortnightly meetings and site visits as well as PSNI Statistics and local information were used to map out where hotspots where and the level of priority. One key criteria was the impact of the problem on the whole community.

Once the area was being enforced there involved local meetings between either the Community Safety Co-ordinator and community and/ or PSNI Neighbourhood Officers and the Youth Intervention Programme Street Youth Workers.

Over the first 8 months the sub group developed an Enforcement plan which included the following tasks and timeframe
Week 1 Target community received Community Information leaflet
Week 2 – 6  Integrated enforcement between PSNI, Council and NIHe
Week 2- 6 months  Youth Intervention Programme Street workers in place.
Week 2-6 months Community Support delivered as identified
Post 6 months ongoing support through Youth Service and interagency working

The sub group also identified in a flowchart the potential routes a perpetrator may take if involved in Anti Social Behaviour and how it would impact on each agency.

2 hotspots were identified as a manageable target each year due to resources and the ambition that in itself the enforcement would act as a message that with choices there are consequences.

The model of practice has now being established and is being considered for use with other Community Safety problems in the borough.

Partners and structures
The key players involved in the Initiative are:-

• Coleraine Community Safety Partnership
• PSNI
• Youth Justice Agency
• Council
• NIHE
• Social Services
• Youth Council
• Youth Service
• Youth Forum
• Community
• Fire Service
• Northern Drugs Area Team
• Secondary Schools

Progress to date
The Anti Social Behaviour Initiative has:-

• Designed and delivered an Education programme to almost 200 secondary pupils
• Designed an accredited Unit entitled Challenging Anti Social Behaviour and this is in partnership with Workers Education Association.
• Begun training 12 participants to become Community Facilitators for Anti Social Behaviour.
• Implemented Enforcement operations in 2 hotspot areas
• Secured Youth and Community Support services in conjunction with the Enforcement.
• Managed these achievements with £8800.00 per year funding.

Operational issues
The Initiative itself is based on a community development approach and its uniqueness is that it requires an Education, Enforcement and Empowerment approach to be developed simultaneously. The issues that have arisen to date and have been successfully overcome are: -

• Securing participation of all agencies and the community.
• Developing structures
• Marketing and promotion of the Initiative
• Implementing the Education programme
• Getting things done
• An investment approach

It is always difficult to develop a project which will reap rewards in the long term and this is an ongoing issue with all the issues like RPA and restructuring of organisations and the funding picture. Getting agencies to buy in for the long term is difficult with the changing personnel and priorities that come along.

This partnership approach works as it has the right balance of commitment and resources and all partners now share the Vision it sets out to achieve. Below is a summary of the plans for 2007/08 which are already underway.

Future plans:-

• Develop Education programme into primary schools and youth clubs
• Devise an Education resource package
• Run further training sessions for statutory agencies and to generate more community facilitators
• Target 2 more hotspots of anti social behaviour
• Ongoing review of the Initiative, its structures and resources

The Anti Social Behaviour Initiative is effective in that it is a partnership in name and action. It has strong commitment, communication and structures, a level of resources and a shared vision which all members are happy to develop together.

To view the Big Bad world CD Rom click here

To find out more about the Youth Intervention Programme click here

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