SACA (Support After Crime and Abuse)

The service has a range of support offers to help young people who have been harmed by crime or abuse. Once we have received a referral or been contacted directly by a young person, we will talk to referrers, parents/carers and the young person about what sort of support will best meet their needs. Our service offers may include:

• One to one emotional and practical support with a Project Worker
• Advocacy and help navigating the criminal justice system
• A text support service, and online digital resources
• Peer support groups, trips and activities
• Groupwork programmes
• Counselling
• Support for parents and carers

SAFE! support aims to help children and young people grow in confidence and develop ways of coping for times when they don’t feel safe. They will not have to talk about what happened to them, unless they want to. It is up to them how much or how little support they get from us. They are free to stop support whenever they like.
SAFE! believes that children and young people have the right to feel safe wherever they are. We give young people the space to explore their thoughts and feelings without judgement. Details of what young people share with us in sessions remains confidential, unless there are things that young people want us to share with other people, or if we feel that the young person or someone else may be in danger.

Our professional Project Workers offer a series of one-to-one sessions, and will arrange to meet the young person in a suitable place; it could be at school, college, home, youth or community centre. Through a range of activities, our professional Project Workers can…

• Listen, and help them to think about what they might want to do next
• Give them space to talk about what has happened and what they’re going through
• Help them think about keeping safe
• Give them information about reporting a crime and what might happen if they do report
• Work directly with parents where appropriate to ensure that they get the best possible support
• Give them information about who else might be able to help

SAFE! employs Children’s Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advocates who are specially trained to support children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse or sexual harm through their Criminal Justice System journey. ChIDSVA’s provide emotional and practical support such as:

• Information and support in reporting a crime to the police
• Help to understand each step of the police investigation and court process
• Advocacy and liaison with other adults and professionals
• Help to access other support services

Our ChIDVSA service will remain open to a child or young person until the criminal justice process has finished, however long that may take.

SAFE! runs a range of different groupwork programmes for children and young people dependent on their age and experiences, which bring together opportunities to meet other children and young people with similar experiences, with targeted pro-social education, creative, interactive and reflective activities:

• PAACE groups for 8 to 11 year olds – This group uses the Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Toolkit (PAACE). They are run in person over 8 weeks.
• DAY programme groups for 11 to 14 or 14 to 18 year olds – these groups focus learning on healthy and unhealthy relationships.
• Holiday activities and residentials – During school holidays SAFE! organises group excursions to bring children of similar ages and experiences together for fun activities, peer support, and consultation.

Once we have received a referral or been contacted by a young person who needs support, we will send them details of our online support offers which are available whilst they wait for their core support to start. These include a text support service, which is open on Monday to Thursday from 3 to 6pm, 30 minutes online drop-in sessions and pre-recorded webinars on a range of topics.