One Glasgow Reducing Offending, Police Scotland, Safer Communities, Greater Glasgow Division
One Glasgow launched in 2011 following the Public Service Reform programme to deliver improvement across the city. The original project consisted of four strands: Children (0-8 years), Reducing Offending (12-25 years), Independent Living and Vulnerable Older People (+65 years). The One Glasgow Reducing Offending project is the last remaining strand of this work, with the three other workstreams now being housed within various other Glasgow City council business areas and departments.
One Glasgow Reducing Offending is a unique multi-agency partnership which is led by Police Scotland in partnership with Glasgow City HSCP, Children and Families Social Work Services and Community Justice Glasgow. Its purpose is to co-ordinate and monitor progress of the Whole Systems Approach for young people. Its aim is to provide positive pathways for under-25s who are involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, the criminal justice system.
Our service provides the scaffolding for young people to help them get on the right course with tailored intervention specific to the individual. This is delivered by combining multi-agency expertise to deliver a person-centred approach. Our unique combination of police officers, social workers, third sector agencies and Glasgow City Council Community Justice team allows for a comprehensive understanding of youth justice.
The One Glasgow partnership currently operates two key services: diversion referral routes to third sector partners and support of social work intensive intervention services with enhanced information sharing.
One Glasgow currently work in partnership with three youth engagement services: Includem ADAPT (focusing on young people involved in disorder or violent behaviour); Action for Children Side Step (focusing on young people who are at risk, or have been victims of, child criminal exploitation (CCE)); NRS Youth Intervention Team (provide short-term intensive support for young people engaging in antisocial behaviour) which is a newly formed service launched in May 2024.
Each young person is provided a bespoke engagement product– based on their needs and circumstances- with direct mentoring by our third sector partners. This includes life choices, addiction engagement (personal and interpersonal), education, employment/employability skills, family support and mental health. Referrals are made jointly by Police Scotland and HSCP social work services who combine data held on the young person to provide a holistic view of their current interactions with the youth justice system. Young people are identified from a variety of sources including:
- Police Scotland;
- Glasgow City Council Social Work Department ;
- Analytical products making use of police data;
- Glasgow City Council Early and Effective Intervention (EEI);
- British Transport Police.
Following the initial referral, all engagement with our third sector partners and the young person is voluntary (the young person can opt out at any time). Within our third sector programmes, enhanced data sharing is in place providing a regular exchange of information with the One Glasgow team.
One Glasgow supports the following three statutory social work services with enhanced data sharing between police and social work:
- Supporting Transitions and Reintegration Service (STARS);
- Intensive Support and Monitoring Service (ISMS);
- Alternative to Remand (ATR).
Within three months of completion of a diversion project provided by One Glasgow, 93% of young people had no further crimes of violence and 80% reduced their offending (75% of them committing no further offences).
Within six months* of completion, 100% of young people had no further crimes of violence and 72% reduced their offending (67% of them committing no further offences).
On average, young people engaged with a diversion service for 184 days (the shortest being 61 days and longest 406 days).
* Reporting period covers 01/04/2023 to 01/04/2024.
The outlook for the future is positive, and we continue to develop our service to widen capacity across the Glasgow City area. We continue to work to raise awareness of One Glasgow among stakeholders. We deliver workshops to the youth justice sector and partners which engages a wider scope of operational practitioners, encourages shared organisational learning and promotes closer professional relationships.
Work is ongoing to increase our referral routes to ensure we meet the needs of young people with bespoke youth services to improve opportunities for young people across the city. We currently are in the final phase of creating a new diversion service pathway, in partnership with Braveheart Industries, which will launch at the end of 2024 and are in the exploration stage with other service providers.
The One Glasgow team continue to support a variety of working groups within the city, including the Glasgow City Integrated Children’s Services Plan and the Youth Justice Strategy group, supporting activity whilst sharing our organisational learning with key stakeholders, which will continue in 2024/25. With Glasgow City Council’s continued development of the multi-agency Child Poverty Pathfinder and Glasgow’s No Wrong Door Network, One Glasgow will have a vital role in this positive workstream to further enhance the support of young people in our city.