Education United Kingdom Project #14813

Coding skills for young ex-offenders

by Generating Genius

Project Report | May 26, 2015
coding skills for young ex-offenders

By Tony Sewell | Project leader

We would like to thank our current supporters, people are giving us cash and support in kind.

The project has developed on 3 levels

1, We have added an enterprise aspect - showing ex-offenders how to use digital tools to market goods and services

2 The project has now moved to 2 more cities Liverpool and Bristol

3 We are being featured in a new TV documentary on helping ex-offenders

We have recently launched a related initiative to our main programme, which teaches our students digital entrepreneurial skills. We feel that we should be supporting our students to seek self-employment. There is the growing sector of digital start-ups, where the key skill is not only coding but also the ability to apply these skills in a business context. Students are focussing doing coding for websites so they can build their own or offer this service to the market.

We have engaged our students in speed dating from role models in the tech industry and those who are running Tech start-ups. This has been fantastic. Students can learn how they could try and start their own small company. We have also asked these tech experts to become role models.

We are now seeking funding and support for our students to get seed money to start their own enterprise. We also seek help from a range of companies to give us mentors and internships.

We have undertaken an impact study, we are doing pre and post study of our intervention to test it’s effectiveness. We are also looking at a theory of change, to see that we are fulfilling our objectives.

We are not just seeking advice and support on how to make these talented students build the confidence to start their own enterprise. How can we get more mentors? Are there companies willing to give us some internship?

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Feb 18, 2015
Giving to young ex-offenders a second chance

By Dr Tony Sewell | Project Leader

We continue to improve on our project for ex-offenders. We are now using them as Mentors. They are able to, tell their stories of crime and show their coding skills to younger students at risk.

We still need help to resource our training of these students. The donations pay specifically for the cost of the training and our link to friendly employers.

The project aims to avoid homelessness through the provision of housing advice and support to prisoners and their families. The project also provides through care support for those offenders with more complex needs to assist them to access specialist agencies in the community to address their needs. The project provides supported accommodation through an approach based on the adult placement model (which has traditionally been used for supporting adultswith learning difficulties).

The young person is placed in a family home, and the mentor supports the young person to develop life skills, to engage in family and community activities, and to participate in employability training to build a prosocial lifestyle.

Research suggests that holistic interventions that address multiple criminogenicneeds are more likely to be effective in reducing reoffending, but there is strong evidence that provision of practical support in prison is unlikely to have a lastingimpact on the risk of reoffending unless it continues upon release. These approaches therefore follow a throughcare model, with on-going support in the community s to access and co-ordinate the services that ex-offenders require to meet their needs. We now adopt a throughcare model – with Technology skills as a key for our young people to re-join the world.

What needs to be done: - Almost half of all prisoners say that employment (48%) and skills deficits (42%) are most important to their sentence - A recent PET survey showed that only 18% of offenders felt supported by prison officers in their learning- 76% of prisoners do not have paid employment to go to after release- Half of all prisoners do not have the skills required by 96% of jobs. - Only one in five prisoners are able to complete a job application form.

What ideas do you have on ways to integrate ex-offenders back into society? How do you think we can tackle the stigma, that many employers have about this group?

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Nov 20, 2014
Generating Genius report

By Tony Sewell | Project Leader

The coding for young offenders has progressed on a number of levels. We now have 300 students across London and they now attend STEM Academies in the north and south of the borough.

A new dimension to the programme is that we are using our students as role models. They go into local schools and tell their stories of how the programme has helped them. This encourages young people to see Science and Technology as a real alternative.

Our students have powerful stories of change and the power of Education.

In terms of the way Generating Genius works. We have become much tighter in measuring our impact. We have developed a model that emphasises the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ rather than the ‘What’. We feel that an enormous

amount of ideas are generated around different types of interventions in an effort to initiate changes of

behaviour in this client group. An equal focus on our motives and devising more effective ways of

delivering services would generate greater success.

The model is based on a foundation of three practices:

Reflexive Practice: The ability to consider a variety of influences in decision making, including personal history.

Non-oppressive Practice: being able to approach all relationships with an awareness of possible prejudices.

Multi-Disciplinary Practice: The ability to think and act professionally in a variety of disciplines.

The model then emphasises the importance of human qualities, such as Honesty, Integrity, Trust and Resilience, that are critical to service delivery and yet not the focus of any practitioner or policy maker training.

Theories devised by academics, researchers and practitioners around the subject of children and families also deserve consideration. Theories such as attachment, attunement and brain development should shape the delivery of services.

The model focuses on the application of the above, underlining aspects such as evaluation, training and professional supervision.

Finally, the model underlines the importance of appropriate service delivery structures and other contextual influences to ensure effective outcomes for vulnerable children & families.

We have now devised a training programme for teachers based on this model which works alongside giving our students coding skills.

We are seeking funds to scale this programme to a national level.

Dr. Tony Sewell | Director
Generating Genius
+44(0)79 5659 8503
tony@generatinggenius.org.uk
http://www.generatinggenius.org.uk

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