REFERRALS

YOUTH INTERVENTION TEAM SPECIALIST REFERRAL FORM

The VERU Youth Intervention Specialist (YIS) team comes with a wealth of both lived and professional experiences, ready to support and work with victims, witnesses and those involved in criminal activities – to include our specialist area around gang associations.

Our aim is to encourage the reduction of child exploitation (CE) and violent activities impacting our Bedfordshire community. We provide a supportive service for educators, children, young people and their families – some of whom may be currently disengaged with services.

Although the support and service that we offer are not mandatory, we as Youth Intervention Specialists recognise that we will be tasked to work with some young people and families who may not wish to engage. The strength of our YIS Team is that we are all skilled in working with this cohort.

Alongside our key partners we will always strive to ensure that the community knows that there is a supplementary support service available for them, and anyone they are concerned about.

Our services

1-2-1 Support (up to 12 sessions mentoring)
Specialist counsellor and therapeutic service
Group advisory sessions
Support for school inclusion units and alternative provisions
Child Exploitation awareness: Gangs/County Lines/ Sexual Exploitation/Grooming/Bullying & Peer Pressure/Criminal Activities/Fraud etc
Personal safety planning
Family support: parents and care givers
Multi-agency support/signposting
Mediation/community resolution
Practitioners/community leaders training and support
Community and education talks
Education assemblies and workshops

Referral process

We encourage referrals to be submitted via the Multi-Agency Gang Panel (Luton) or the Serious Youth Violence Panel (Bedford/Central Bedfordshire) using the respective panels’ referral form.

Referrals outside this process must be submitted by email using the VERU referral form or via our website using the form below.

It is the responsibility of the person making the referral to notify the respective authorities of referrals made outside the VERU process.

Streamlining this process in this manner is to avoid duplication of service and ensure the most appropriate person/agency are assigned to the young person.

We aim to acknowledge all referrals within 24 working hours of receiving them, currently excluding weekends and Bank Holidays.

Following the acknowledgment, the referral will be assessed and assigned to a Youth Intervention Specialists within five working days.

Contact will be made to the referring agency within 48 working hours of the case being assigned.

Please note that referrals into the VERU are not a substitute for normal safeguarding referrals. Safeguarding referrals should continue to be submitted independently to the relevant safeguarding hubs and the police for consideration.

Referral criteria

Children/young people/vulnerable adult aged 11 to25
Parents/care giver of a young person believed to be at risk or a risk to others (any age)
Serious concerns of child criminal exploitation or child sexual exploitation (gang affiliation/county lines/drugs etc.)
Not already working with a similar intervention/prevention agency (excluding local authority/police/youth offending)
Not incarcerated at the time when the referral was received (an exception is where the young person is open to the VERU prior to their sentence)
A valid contact number for the person referred (over 18s) or a parent or responsible adult for those under 18
Consent from a parent/care giver or those who are over 18

Providing as much information as possible and completing all sections of the referral form helps when assessing. If the basic information – contact details, if working with other agencies/education provisions etc – isn’t provided, this can delay the assessing process or result in the VERU not accepting the referral.

Covid-19

The VERU like many other agencies has been operating throughout the lockdown period and beyond, although partly remotely. Our YIS team are providing ongoing practical and pastoral support for both existing and new cases referred into the VERU, both face to face and virtually. However, we will make reasonable and necessary adjustments (online/virtual sessions offer) to ensure the safety of all staff.

You can make a referral to the YIS team using the online form below.

For more information about or to speak to someone about a referral please email veru@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk

Please note referrals made to the VERU is not a substitute for normal safeguarding referrals and should not be used as such

YIS team referral - young person

Name *

First

Last

Date of birth *

Gender *

Male
Female
Other / does not specify

Ethnicity *

Faith / Religion (if disclosed)

Registered address *

Residing address *

Contact phone number

Parent / appropriate adult name *

Address *

Relationship *

Contact phone number *

Has the parent/carer given consent for this referral? *

Does this young person/family require an interpreter? (interpreter can be arranged if required) *

Referring person name *

First

Last

Agency *

Address *

Telephone number *

Email *

History (background of the person being referred and why they are being referred, eg: concerns about gang association or personal safety)

Educational/alternative provisions(school/college/university)

Safeguarding lead name and contact details

Do you consider this person to be a witness/victim/suspect? *

Why?

Multi-agency support and involvement *

If the person being referred is known to Social Care, YOT, other local authority services or other agencies, please provide further details

Local Authority Status (LAC/CIN/CP etc) *

Have you completed the Bedfordshire exploitation tooklit? *

You can find the toolkit at https://bedsveru.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Child-exploitation-tool.pdf

Have you completed the national referral mechanism? *

You can do this via https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-trafficking-victims-referral-and-assessment-forms

Outcome overview (exploitation toolkit / NRM)

Does the person have a history of mental/chronic ill-health personally or with direct family members?

Has the person experienced a bereavement/loss?

If yes, when?

Does the person have a history of physical or emotional/sexual abuse?

Do you believe the person poses a risk of harm to others?

Please provide details

Do you believe the person is at risk of harm from others?

Please provide details

If you are making this referral on behalf of another person, do you have consent to share this information?

Name of person making the referral *

First

Last

Date

YIS team referral - parents / care giver

Name *

First

Last

Date of birth

Gender

Male
Female
Other / does not specify

Ethnicity

Faith / Religion (if disclosed)

Registered address *

Residing address *

Name of child(ren) concerned about

Dates of birth(s)

Contact phone number for person referred

Does this person require an interpreter? (interpreter can be arranged if required)

Referring person name *

First

Last

Agency *

Address *

Contact phone number *

Email *

History (background of the person being referred and why they are being referred, eg: concerns about gang association or personal safety)

Do you consider this person to be a witness/victim/suspect? *

Multi-agency support and involvement *

If the person being referred is known to Social Care, YOT, other local authority services or other agencies, please provide further details

Local Authority Status (LAC/CIN/CP etc for both parent and child)) *

Has the person experienced violence (domestic violence/family breakdown/fleeing a war torn country/sexual exploitation)? *

Does the person have a history of mental/chronic ill-health personally or with direct family members? *

Has the person experienced a bereavement/loss, if so when? *

Does the person have a history of physical or emotional/sexual abuse? *

If you are making this referral on behalf of another person, do you have consent to share this information?

Name of person making the referral *

First

Last

Date