October was a busy month, which found me speaking at many different events, including a conference for staff who work with young people leaving the care of the local authority and also one for staff who work in the youth offending service.
You may recall in one of my earlier 'blogs', I talked about the 'mosquito' device, the sonic device that emits a high frequency sound to disperse groups of young people. These are being purchased by many shops and I am fearful that they will be used indiscriminately to move groups of young people on, without looking at the bigger picture and the reasons young people gather outside shops. There has been no long term testing about the effects of this device and I urge anyone considering using a 'mosquito' to exercise extreme caution; future litigation could follow. I was interviewed by the 'Sentinel' newspaper about the use of 'mosquitoes'; I've attached the article here and would welcome your comments.
Marvin has now left his job here; I'd like to publicly say a big 'thank you' to Marvin who was so enthusiastic, completed some good pieces of work and increased my repertoire!! Marvin has 'opened the doors' for other young people to have a role working alongside me in the future, I'm meeting with the head of the leaving care service shortly to develop some guidelines around employing future 'Marvin's'.
At the last meeting of the children's planning network we discussed how to gather your views - the views of young people 'on the street'. The idea of the 'big brother' diary room was discussed and I secured a joint venture with Staffordshire Fire Service. Using their vehicle, you have 1 minute to 'have your say' and record your views and to let the decision makers know what life is like as a teenager - any thing, from what bothers you, what services you want and what you don't want. So far, 2 events have taken place as a pilot project - 1 in Biddulph and 1 in Cheadle and considering the very poor weather, over 50 young people came 'on board' and recorded their views. I'll be sharing this with the children's trust conference on Weds 6th December, so watch this space - is successful, we'll be bringing 'big bruvver' to an area near you in the New Year!
I've had a couple of meetings with people in IT, to look at how I can make my web site more interactive and 'young people' friendly and also to discuss how I can develop the idea of a 'commissioner's question time'. Keep an eye out for these exciting developments.
Progress in other areas has been to secure the use of mobile phones for young people who are looked after in a residential setting; previously, mobiles were 'banned', however, following discussion with senior managers this has been reviewed and decisions made on an individual basis, resulting in some of the most vulnerable young people being provided with a phone.
Many areas are now establishing local 'children's trust boards' - it really is worth finding out where yours is, when it takes place if you want to have a real say and influence the services that are provided in your area.
The month ended with a presentation evening at Leek High School, for young people who have made terrific personal achievements - it really was inspirational and wonderful to see - yet again - so many young people achieve so much and also to pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of staff who give up their time to assist and inspire hundreds of young people. Congratulations to all!!!!
Last Modified:
06/12/2006 14:13:07
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