Support service for at risk children in Wolverhampton to be extended
Children at risk of exploitation or of being taken into care are to benefit from the extension of a pioneering service which offers them support.
Over the last two years, Wolverhampton Council says the Power2 team, part of Children’s Services, has supported dozens of vulnerable 11 to 25-year-olds in turning their lives around.
The team helps improve school attendance and family relationships, and prevents them from getting involved in high-risk and criminal activities or having to be taken into care.
They work with young people at risk of gang exploitation or child sexual exploitation, substance misuse or criminal or anti-social behaviour, those who have been excluded from school or violent towards other people in the home, or those who have been subject to missing episodes.
The council says staff build positive, trusting relationships with young people and work with them to address the previous trauma they have experienced, which could include physical abuse, neglect, mental illness and separation or loss.
Now the council has committed funding for the service for the coming financial year and is looking to work with partners to establish a longer term multi-agency funding model for the team.
The work of Power2 has been commended by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and HM Inspectorate of Probation.
Councillor Beverley Momenabadi, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We are committed to doing all we can to ensure that children and young people are able to grow up safely and happily with their families, and keep to a minimum the number who ultimately have to be taken into care.
"The Power2 team has had a very important role to play in this, and the support it has provided to some of our most vulnerable children and young people over the last couple of years has had real impact, helping them to exert more positive control over their lives as they make the move into adulthood.
"It has also brought significant savings to local taxpayers – we estimate that the work of the Power2 team in reducing the need for other interventions has helped avoid costs of around £5m across the wider support system over the last couple of years.
"While this is of course very welcome, the most important thing is that the team have been able to secure much improved outcomes for children and young people, and I am delighted that funding has been confirmed for the next 12 months."
