‘Everyone has the right to feel safe. Nothing is too small that it can’t be spoken about with someone.’
These are the words that greet visitors to the Young Victims Service homepage, setting the tone for the next edition of our ‘Day in the Life’ series.
In this episode, we highlight the vital work of policing partners supporting young victims of crime, anti-social behaviour, and domestic abuse.
Managed by North Somerset Youth Justice Service, the Young Victims Service (YVS) is funded by Avon and Somerset Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB) and North Somerset Council to provide specialist intervention support from professionally qualified Young Victim’s Advocates to children across Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) and South Gloucestershire.
YVS utilises a ‘trauma-informed’ approach, offering bespoke and individualised support plans, completed in collaboration with the children and their families.
The service works in partnership with schools and other agencies in the best interests of the child, ensuring that their voice remains at the centre of all decision-making. YVS works with children aged 5 to 18 years, and those with additional learning needs who are 18 to 25 years old.
YVS ensures children and young people have appropriate, practical and emotional support to help them begin to process and move forwards from their experience as a victim of crime, as well as helping them engage with the criminal justice system if they choose to do so.
This week we hear from Sian Hancock, who has been a Young Victim’s Advocate with YVS for 7 years.
Join us as we explore the dedication, compassion, and expertise that goes into supporting young victims.
Sian, can you tell us a bit about your background and what inspired you to become a Young Victims Advocate?
I was born in South Wales, but have spent most of my life in and around Bristol. I have worked with children, young people and their families in both community and educational settings. I was a young leader in the Guide Movement and a Youth Worker for several years. Whilst my daughters were growing up, I led and managed a pre-school before going to university and training as a primary school teacher.
“Whilst teaching, my post graduate study focussed on ways to empower independent learners. This challenged a lot of my thinking, alongside a trip to Sierra Leone as part of the ‘Just Life Project’ visiting community projects helping the country recover from its civil war.”
I then moved into Higher Education, training youth and community workers, which is what I was doing before I joined the Young Victims Service.
“These experiences have equipped me for my Advocate role, which I often consider to be the ‘non-anxious presence’ alongside children and young people when their world has been turned upside down”
The impact of being a victim can be profound and far-reaching for a child or young person, affecting their emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. They may have experienced trauma and abuse, leading to low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Their behaviour might also be impacted. For example, they may be dysregulated, withdraw or become aggressive, displaying disruptive behaviours as a way of coping.
Calm, consistent support helps children feel valued, heard, and safe as they work through the complex emotions tied to their experiences. It creates a foundation for recovery and healing, which can make a significant difference in the child’s emotional development and future well-being.
How does your day start?
I like to ground myself at the start of the day, so I’ll walk the dog before my first coffee!
Vegan banana pancakes are my breakfast choice at the moment.
What does a typical day involve?
Most days start with me taking time to recall my last session with the young people I will be seeing. This helps me to build continuity in our work and to ensure I have a range of resources to offer them choice in how they might respond. Most sessions happen in the school day, so I travel to my first school and meet with that young person for an hour. Like many, he needed the therapeutic space to offload and reset.
“The day hadn’t started well for this young person, and he was feeling overwhelmed, so I asked for the Head of Year to join us so we could request some amendments to the day to help him decompress and approach the afternoon lessons feeling less anxious.”
After the session, I ring home to update the parents on my concerns and any actions. Between visits I make some notes about the sessions and respond to phone calls. Sometimes I may be answering as the Duty Advocate, which involves answering initial enquiries or providing follow-up information.
In the next school, I join a meeting with a young person, their parents, Head of Year and Pastoral Lead. We talk about what was going well for them and share any concerns. The young person was able to express their struggles and contributed to the way forward that was agreed to by the end of the meeting.
The final visit was to siblings at their home. After some initial play time together, they each had their own time with me to explore their feelings and how to manage them when family life is messy. English is not their first language, so at times I needed to navigate cultural distinctions, however being in their home, with Mum nearby, made that easier.
“We use a range of tools to build safe trusting relationships with the young people and to help them to explore their thoughts feelings and wishes. This includes ‘getting to know you games’, breathing and grounding techniques, talk, art or play therapy. Sometimes we will use sports, or ‘walk and talk’ methods to engage a young person.”
Some of the interventions I provide are from the ‘Healing Together‘ programme. All of the YVS team are accredited ‘Healing Together’ facilitators. The programme includes activities and videos on content such as ‘how to keep safe’, ‘understanding how our brains and bodies work together’ and ‘finding and feeling feelings safely.’ We also use the ‘Spark’ Curriculum and resources.
Provided by Innovating Minds, ‘Healing Together’ is a Home Office approved trauma-informed programme that was born out of a request from mothers who had started their journey of recovery from domestic abuse. These mothers wanted help and support for their children but could not find anything suitable.
The ‘Healing Together’ programme incorporates evidence-based models, including attachment, neuroscience (including polyvagal theory and Daniel Siegal’s work) and relational approaches.
At some point during the day I will send reminders to the parent carers and/or young people I will be seeing the next day, to remind them of timings and to check that they’re still okay to meet. When I make it back to my desk, I will write up my case notes, respond to emails and then begin to prepare for tomorrow’s visits.
How does your role link with policing?
Whilst YVS accepts referrals from schools, other agencies, families and young people, many referrals come through from the police via Lighthouse Victim Care. Not all cases are going through the Criminal Justice System but when they are, we support families through that process and will accompany them to ABE interviews, pre-trial visits and at Court. At these times we may have a closer link with the investigating officer.
“It is reassuring to a young person to have an Advocate alongside them having already established a rapport.”
Advocates can help explain the process and provide the emotional support needed whilst awaiting decisions on whether charges will be made and cases going to Court.
What aspects of your job do you find most rewarding?
I learn so much from the young people I meet, and am often amazed at the transformation that can be seen after our short intervention.
“Working WITH them and giving THEM the opportunity to make choices can make such difference. Young people are empowered, self-esteem is boosted again and resilience deepens.”
What would success in your role look like for you?
“A young person THRIVING, not just surviving.”
Sometimes this is seen in their face or body language. Or, we might hear it as they talk about experiences that show they have their confidence and sense of safety restored and are re-emerging again. We may be told by parents, carers or teachers how they have begun to see glimpses of their old self again.
Formally, success or quantitative data is captured when we revisit an assessment questionnaire the young person completed at the beginning of the support process. It involves scaled responses to questions and is a good visual tool for young people to see where things have changed, and for us to reflect with them together on how and why responses may be different now. We also get affirming feedback from families and schools.
What do you see as the main benefits of a university education for police officers and what do you think the educational priorities are?
“University provides a constructive reflective space for the lived experience to be shared, thinking to be expanded and misconceptions and bias to be challenged.”
Academic study encourages reflection on ‘action’, and can provide a language for understanding the underlying values and principles for ways of working. Going through study in this way will inevitably deepen self-awareness, help develop the relational and communication skills needed for front line work with the public as well as for collaborative working.
On behalf of young victims, it would be helpful for the understanding of TRAUMA to be a priority. It’s a complex subject and can continue to trigger strong physiological and emotional responses. Exploration of what it means to be ‘trauma-informed’ in approach and when communicating would be beneficial to all concerned, and less triggering for young people.
A comprehensive understanding of DOMESTIC ABUSE in its many guises would be helpful, as it is often hidden behind presenting behaviours and incidents. Alongside that would be insight to the subtleties of ‘controlling coercive behaviour’ and an awareness to how this often continues post-separation. Some of the children we work with find themselves caught amid adult disagreements, and struggle with this and their feelings for each adult.
And lastly, what do you do for fun?
I climb trees, read books and play board games…not necessarily in that order!
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to be a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe