Trust 360 is a pilot project run through White Gold, with funding from Cornwall Crime Beat. The aim of the project was to work with offenders in Cornwall, both difficult individuals who are in a cycle of addiction and offending, and may be victims themselves, but also those who appear poised to start down that road.
The name was carefully chosen: trust is essential in these cases, and 360° support is the only way that it is possible to make a difference.
Alan Milliner of White Gold worked with Pentreath Industries and Paul Reeve of the Safer Stronger Consortium to put together a scheme which would work with these clients, and also provide solid evidence of the work being done, to prove the effectiveness of this means of support, for future funding.
Originally conceived as a six-month pilot project, creative use of other support available allowed the project to run for nine months, beginning in October 2015. Supporting a client through Victim Care funding, then an additional month of Trust 360 support, as an example, and other agencies were involved.
The scope of the project was to work with people under the age of 30 (which was a criteria of the Crime Beat funding), and those who need more than the police or social services can offer individually – or have the resources to handle.
Referrals to the scheme are made through the police, Anti-Social Behaviour groups and through White Gold itself. All available information on the case is collected, through an Information Exchange Protocol with the police. Going in ‘blind’ is not an option, and the initial visit is carried out by a manager from White Gold, including a risk assessment, as the individuals referred are often volatile and sometimes dangerous. A formal model was drawn up, giving a flow chart of the process.
An appropriate team member is appointed to work with the person, based on needs and skills, and one-to-one mentoring will begin. This will take whatever form is deemed appropriate for the individual, helping with social skills, assisting into education, training or employment, signposting to other support, and any practical help required.
Case studies
A pair of young men were referred together, having been victims of arson, but themselves having a history of drug use, sexual offences and driving offences. Living with their father in very poor conditions, and with other issues involving parental access to a child, this family was one with whom the statutory services were very familiar. Trust 360’s involvement was effectively with the whole family, as the individuals could not be helped in isolation.
Now, several months on, the father is receiving one to one help from Adult Social Care, and taking better care of himself, thus the family home is more pleasant. One son has been supported to move to his own flat, clean himself up, and get off the drugs. He is staying out of trouble so far, and has been told by the courts that if he maintains this, he can have contact with his child, in the future. This is a dramatic step forward for the whole family, as well as the family of the child, plus the local neighbourhood. The new area where the young man is living is also benefiting from his presence, as he has reported a local drug dealer, who has now left!
A young man in his mid-teens was referred to Trust 360, with suspected radicalisation issues. An isolated young man, lacking in social skills, he’d been picking up extreme views online, and his mother was unable to deal with him. The worker assigned to this client was deliberately not a white Anglo-Saxon male, just to challenge his prejudices on a basic level, while helping his other issues.
With one-to-one mentoring, he has become less isolated, now taking part in group activities, and getting out of his home regularly. The report from those around him is that he’s a different lad now.
The initial funding for Trust 360 was £14,000. The saving to the statutory services, in the first case study alone, could easily match that, and it is impossible to say what depths the young man in the second case study may have gone down to, had his views been allowed to develop.
Forty four people have been clients of the Trust 360 pilot project. The wider impact of the work done with those individuals covers a much greater number of people. The case studies are simply two contrasting examples from a much wider pool.
The proven success of this relationship-based project is well documented, with extensive case notes for every client. Twenty three of the cases remain nominally open, awaiting continuation of funding, to help with their ongoing support.