always possible appointed as independent evaluators of Croydon Community Partnership Against Trauma

Croydon Council are spearheading an integrated project bringing together families, schools and local communities to equip young people with the tools to overcome a range of adverse childhood experiences and the skills to achieve their goals. The project is part of Croydon’s long-term strategy to reduce youth violence.

Croydon Community Partnership Against Trauma will be made up of a number of schools, colleges, and voluntary and community sector organisations, as well as the local authority.

Funding has been given by the Mayor of London’s Young Londoner’s Fund.

Project aims

The project will engage parents, leverage community assets and bring schools into an integrated support programme that addresses the disproportionality of young black males at risk and meets the emotional health needs of both the young people and their parents. The idea to test is that by utilising a trauma-informed way of working, young people get a deeper understanding of their dilemmas and issue-based activities to transform their behaviour and are able to build a greater sense of belonging and power.

This project will work with 10 education partners (eight schools and two FE colleges), supporting three cohorts of young people every year. Teaching staff will be trained to identify the young people most at risk in years 6, 7 and 11, focusing on their transition from primary to secondary and school to college. The project will identify young people whose characteristics – poor self-esteem, loneliness, peer pressure, bullying, poor role models – raise concerns about home life.

Our role

The two-year evaluation from always possible will provide independent oversight of how effectively Croydon Community Partnership Against Trauma (CCPAT) meets its aims and objectives.

Namely, the impact of

• targeting support at the transitional phases between primary/secondary and school/college on YP attainment and inclusion
• extending and increasing support of young people with social and emotional problems into mainstream education
• using community-based activities to tackle the root causes of youth violence.

Read more about the project here.