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5 Ways to Get Young People to Read More

By Kaya Ismail No CommentsPosted in BlogTags:

book-67049_640Getting young people to read more of anything is hard work. Whether it be books, magazines, or indeed any type of reading material, many young people seem to show almost no interest.

So, how do we at Stepping Out aim to get our young people – who reside in our semi independent living projects, to read more often?

Here are our top five tips.

1. Keep Books Lying Around

The best way to introduce young people to reading material, especially books, is to simply give them easy access.

For example, setting up a book shelf or book-case in a living room or communal area is a great way to encourage young people to browse through books and other reading materials at their own leisure.

This works well because, instead of having to instruct the young person to read something, you give them the opportunity to make the decision for themselves, whilst also making that decision easier in the process.

2. Buy Local & National Newspapers

Books may not appeal to every young person, especially if reading hasn’t been a hobby of theirs in the past.

A great way to introduce reading into the life of a young person, is to habitually purchase the local or national newspaper.

A natural inclination to find out about current news and events will often lead the young person to read such material on a regular basis. Make this process easy by constantly having the latest newspapers available.

3. Encourage Magazine & Blog Subscriptions

On top of traditional books and newspapers, there are other ways in which young people can be introduced to the world of reading.

Subscribing to magazines and online blogs for example, can become a brilliant way in which the young person can access new reading materials on a regular basis.

Blogs in particular are useful, as there are a wide range of blogs across the internet covering almost every topic known to mankind – so the young person is bound to find something of interest.

4. Go Digital With Ebooks

To make reading even easier, encourage the young person to download ebooks, many of which are free.

Teenagers – and people in general nowadays, love technology. So, by having reading material on their smart phones and tablets, they can instantly begin reading things without having to leave the comfort of their digital world.

Ebooks can be read absolutely anywhere with complete ease, including at home, on the train, or even in coffee shops.

5. Keep it Relevant

Above all, no matter which method of reading you wish to help introduce your young person to, ensure that it’s all relevant to them.

If for example, the young person shows an interest in animals, try to suggest animal related magazines and blogs to visit and subscribe to.

Trying to force young people to read about topics of no interest to them will only push them further away from reading as a hobby.

So there you have it, five our best tips to get young people reading.

What do you think of our five tips to get young people reading more? Let us know if you have any tricks of your own below!

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Stepping Out are Recruiting!

By Kaya Ismail No CommentsPosted in BlogTags:
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For a number of years, Stepping Out have been successfully aiding local authorities across London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and other locations, to manage clients displaying severe challenging behaviour, MAPPA cases, young offenders and so forth.

Primarily, our services revolve around semi-independent living programs dotted in and around the capital, where our highly trained staff help to manage, help and develop such clients, on a personal basis.

Who Are We?

Stepping Out is a CQC registered & regulated social care provider delivering person centred care services to children, young people & adults. Our service users have diverse needs, may require low levels, or high levels of support & supervision.

This has put Stepping Out High on the providers lists of Local authorities across the UK who are regularly choosing Stepping Out as their first choice provider for social care. This is due to our extensive quality assurance systems, which set into place Firm structured pathways of achieving personal goals and Independence for each individual service user throughout our Services and projects.

To find out more about our services and expertise, check out our main website.

Semi Independent Living For Young People & Adults With Learning Disabilities.

We’re Recruiting!

Currently, Stepping Out are looking to recruit in the following positions, throughout the North London, Watford and Luton areas:

  • Youth Workers
  • Support Workers
  • Administrators

If you think you’d be suitable for any of the above roles, please contact us today.

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Specialist Accommodation for Young Offenders

By Kaya Ismail No CommentsPosted in BlogTags:

Throughout its existence, Stepping Out has continued to excel in their work with young offenders, utilizing specialist accommodation for young offenders from across London and beyond. Our dedicated support provisions are also known as semi-independent living provisions.

We have semi independent provisions in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and across the various boroughs which help to make up North London.

Stepping Out are trusted by many local authorities to produce outcome focussed work around some of the most high risk clients in the country. Our expertise stretches from MAPPA cases, to specialist youth rehabilitation orders and even Intensive support and supervision programmes (ISSP).

accomodation-for -youth-offenders

Why Stepping Out?

We understand that youth offending teams (YOT’s) can experience difficulties in obtaining full time education for this group, especially if they have been permanently excluded or out of education for a long time. That’s where Stepping Out can help.

Naturally, the relevant local authority must provide suitable full-time education for all permanently excluded young people. This would be between 21 and 25 hours a week depending on their age. If they are statemented it should be the number of hours specified on the statement.

Stepping Out has built positive relationships with local training providers and is able to source education and training, however some high risk clients may not be able to gain access to mainstream providers. To combat this Stepping Out is also a City & Guilds regulated training provider offering in-house education and training to young offenders.

More than Just Accommodation for Young Offenders

Although youth offender accommodation is one of our primary services, local authorities, youth offending teams and other bodies will be glad to hear that we also provide a number of other semi-independent living based solutions for a wide range of client types.

Stepping Out provide specialist care and support services to children and their families, care leavers and adults with: Challenging Behaviour, Mental Health Issues, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorders, Learning Disabilities, MAPPA cases, Sexually Harmful & Sexualised Behaviours,  Self-Harm, Suicidal Tendencies, Dual Diagnosis, Alzheimer’s and Early-Onset Dementia.

To find out more about our accommodation for young offenders, or about any of our oher services, feel free to contact us.

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Stepping Out: Managing Sexualised Behaviour in Children

By Kaya Ismail No CommentsPosted in BlogTags: , , , ,

When it comes to identifying, handling and managing sexualised behaviour in children, Stepping Out are all too qualified. Sadly, sexual exploitation of children and young adults is something that we are coming across more frequently as time goes on. Many young people are afraid to disclose information in fear of being ignored, ridiculed or worse – being treated as though they are not telling the truth.

Stepping Out is a specialist health and social care provider. One of our specialisms is to ensure the safety of young females at risk of female sexual exploitation and/or those whom have been sexually exploited. Our 24 hour professionally staffed semi independent living provisions provide the perfect setting for combating and securing young people from sexual exploitation. Highly trained staff, along with very tight risk management measures ensure the safety and well being of each service user.

Sexual-exploitation

Over the years, those whom sexually exploit young people have been using technology to their advantage, the likes of Facebook, Twitter and most recently Instagram are inadvertently providing a platform for these activities to occur.

In fact, quite recently, we worked on a case where we believed a young female was at risk of being sexually exploited via Facebook pages that portray themselves as certified modelling agencies. Many young females dream of becoming a model and therefore in order to fulfill their dreams ignore or forget the risks of communicating with such people.

Stepping Out has a vast amount of experience in working with young females at risk of sexual exploitation, we provide safe homely environment with 24 hour on-site supervision and proactive support in order to aid, monitor and ensure the safety of these clients.

Where possible we seek to closely monitor clients and their social network communication and dedicate specific 1-1 time in order to discuss online safety.

Our semi independent living provisions are gender specific, and therefore we do not allow any male visitors unless family or professionals. Our staff members are tasked with taking note of any unusual behaviors around the immediate grounds of the provision – including driveways and parking spaces, in order to ensure our young people particularly females are not entering vehicles where they may be at risk.

Additionally, vehicle registration numbers will be noted and passed on to relevant social workers and police if deemed necessary. Such information is of course vital to deter others from seeking to exploit/abuse our clients.

To find out more about Stepping Out and our stringent policies regarding  Sexualised Behaviour in Children, see our website, or contact us.

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3 Effective Ways To Manage Challenging Behaviour

By Kaya Ismail No CommentsPosted in BlogTags: , , ,

Here at Stepping Out, we know a thing or two about managing challenging behaviour. Our Semi Independent living projects are hotbeds of challenging youths, each with their own, unique behaviours.

Challenging Behaviour is, “Culturally abnormal behaviour(s) of such intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety to the person or others is placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit or deny access to the use of ordinary community facilities”. This definition was put forward by Eric Emerson, in his renowned book, Challenging Behaviour: Analysis and Intervention in People with Severe Learning Disabilities.

Challenging behaviour will always be ripe in social care, and thus we must be prepared for the difficulties they are accompanied by.

We have consolidated a three step approach to managing a typical case of challenging behaviour, incorporating proven techniques and vast experience.

 

Challenging Behaviour

Challenging Behaviour

1. Listen

Before you act, or react, it is imperative that you listen and understand the issue at hand. Ask the service user to express their problem to you clearly. Not only will this help you understand the problem, and thus be in a better position to tackle it, but it will also help to calm the service user down.

As the Service user explains their issue, you can begin to implement the next step.

2. Solve or Defer

Once you have understood the service user’s concerns, you can then decide to either provide them with a solution, or to defer the issue, giving reassurance that it will soon be resolved.

For example, if the issue is a matter of visiting the local store, you may offer to take the service user to the store, or perhaps set a time or day to do so. Simple communication such as this can usually prevent large scale incidents occurring.

Alternatively, if the issue being raise is too large to be solved at that point in time, you may offer them a safer route to vent, by giving them a complaints form, or by assuring them that the manager will be informed. You can then defer the situation by asking other questions, or suggesting other activities.

3. Prepare for Escalation

Not all challenging incidents can be calmed immediately. You must always be prepared for escalation by doing the following:

– Ensure you are out of arms reach of the service user
– Ensure that the service user is not standing between you and the nearest exit
– Never raise your voice or reflect the service users agitation or aggressive behaviour

Following company policy & procedure, as well as the service user’s support plan & risk assessment will also be a great help in defusing such situations.

The three step plan is a handy guide to help settle incident where communication is the key to the solution. The essential step is always to listen and understand the problem, and tackle it accordingly.

Do you have an alternative technique? Let us know in the comments section below.

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