Your location: Help for all the family
06 October 2008
Shelter, in partnership with the Trinity Centre, has launched an innovative new project in Birmingham that will work with families to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB).
The Family Conferencing Project aims to prevent ASB by tackling it in its early stages. It will work with families who haven’t been convicted of ASB, but are showing signs of difficulties, and in many cases have already been in contact with the police or social services.
The purpose of family conferencing is to work with each member of the family individually and then to bring them together in a conference to try to resolve the issues creating ASB and prevent the family falling further into crisis.
Emma Thompson, Shelter’s family group conferencing co-ordinator, said: ‘This is a whole new concept of how to deal with anti-social behaviour, not only in Birmingham, but in the country as a whole.
‘We believe that early intervention is crucial in tackling ASB, yet families are often left until crisis point before help is offered to them. Family group conferencing will change this, and crucially, it will also rely on the family members to make decisions on how to solve their problems, rather than agencies.
‘We are extremely grateful to the Trinity Centre, an organisation dedicated to helping those facing hardship in the city of Birmingham to offset the risk of future homelessness, which is funding the new project’.
Get in touch
Referrals to the project can be made from agencies or direct from families. To find out more, contact Emma Thompson at 4th Floor Gateway House, 50-53 High Street, Birmingham B4 7SY, or emma_thompson@shelter.org.uk
