Improving the Hope of Young People Impacted by Serious Violence and Child Criminal Exploitation: Full Report May 2024

In Spring 2023, The Children’s Society’s Newcastle team commissioned Northumbria University to conduct an evaluation of their SCARPA (Safeguarding Children at Risk – Prevention and Action) service. This report presents our full and final research findings from this project.

SCARPA works across the whole of the North East region, supporting children and young people aged 10-18 who go missing and/or are at risk of or are victims of exploitation. This project involved a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including interviews with stakeholders and young people impacted by serious youth violence (SYV) and/or child criminal exploitation (CCE). This final report includes an overview of the project and its methodology, a detailed literature review of the existing academic literature and government reports aligned to the areas of SYV, CCE, and effective interventions, and presents the findings in relation to the four project research aims:

1. To develop a greater understanding of the changing picture of SYV/CCE in Newcastle and the North East of England.

2. To evaluate the principles, approaches, models, and methods used by the Children’s Society’s SCARPA service to engage with young people affected by SYV/CCE.

3. To assess the impact of the work of The Children’s Society’s SCARPA service on young people, families, communities, and services.

4. To establish broader practice lessons about supporting young people affected by serious violence (practice standards in the North East).

It concludes by identifying areas of good practice in the SCARPA service, recommendations on how they can further enhance their work in supporting young people impacted by CCE and SYV, as well as highlighting the implications of these research findings for broader regional and national practice.