Delivering trauma-informed, transformative services to young people throughout Cleveland

The Real Me Project offers young people/adults, who want to make changes in their life, the opportunity to move forward to a better future. Support is offered in manging key transitions, such as moving from youth offending supervision to adult supervision, or on release from prison.

Engaging in a restorative process is an integral part of our trauma-informed work, for both offenders and victims.

Taking part in the Real Me Project enables young people to:

Explore their personal goals and ambitions, in making positive lifestyle change.

Be empowered to actively contribute to making their own future plans.

Increase their independence, knowing there is available support when needed.

Develop new skills and a better understanding of themselves, to help them move forward.

Access support and information in managing any changes in community supervision or upon release from custody.

Apologise, explain or seek to make amends to those affected by their actions.

Aims & Objectives

This is a voluntary and non-statutory support service for young people/adult offenders, with a particular focus on those aged between 17-25 years.

The key objective of the project is to deliver a confidential support service, with the assistance of a Peer Support Mentor(s), with ‘lived experience’. These mentors provide support to young people who are identified as having ongoing support needs at the time of exiting the Youth Justice Service (YJS) or are transferred from the Youth Justice Services to Adult Offender Services.

This fundamental aim is to assist in the transition from the ‘nurturing’ environment of a Youth Justice Service to the more independent, adult environment of the Probation Service, and ultimately, to steer them away from the Criminal Justice System entirely.

Helps to identify and address immediate support needs.
Encourages stable family relationships.
Provides assistance to secure stable employment.
Gives support in moving away from the negative influences of same sex/age peers.
Increases self-esteem and feelings of hope and responsibility.
Develops empathy towards others; children, family, the community as a whole.
Fosters a belief they can be a valued member of society.
Uses restorative approaches to support reintegration within personal relationships, family and the community.

What is Trauma-Informed Practice ?

Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) is a strengths-based approach, which seeks to understand and respond to the impact of trauma on people’s lives.

The approach emphasises physical, psychological, and emotional safety for everyone and aims to empower individuals to re-establish control of their lives.

Trauma is when we experience very stressful, frightening or distressing events that are difficult to cope with or out of our control. It could be a single incident, or an ongoing event that has occurred over a long period of time.

Trauma-Informed practice shifts the focus from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to asking “What happened to you?” – providing greater awareness and understanding of the person and themselves, in order to better support the process of moving forward.

Justice Inspectorates Research:

In a study commissioned to understand the extent of adversity, abuse and vulnerability of justice-involved children in one area, it was found that out of a selected sample of 80 cases, 71% were suspected or confirmed to have been abused. In nearly half of the cases, the child had witnessed domestic violence, and this was suspected in a third of cases – over three-quarters were confirmed as having experienced family violence or child abuse.

How to Refer to Us:

Professional Referrals

If you’re a professional and would like to make a referral for someone to access our service, please complete the form and we’ll be in touch.

Make a referral