Del Elliott to speak on well-being of city’s youth
Jun 30 2009 by Tony Collins, Birmingham Post
A world authority on preventing violence was visiting Birmingham today to share details of his work and also find out more about the city’s approach to improving the lives of its young people.
The arrival of Del Elliott, from the University of Colorado, comes as Government ministers are expected to announce plans aimed at dealing with unruly pupils.
Under the proposals, due to be in the wide-ranging Schools White Paper being unveiled today, parents of disruptive pupils could be taken to court by teachers.
The initiative will be used to support existing home-school agreements which set out what is expected of parents and their children in the education system.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls says the move is aimed at a small number of parents who disregard the agreements.
Mr Elliott, director of the Centre for the Study of Prevention of Violence at the Institute of Behavioural Science in Colorado, is to address Birmingham City Council’s Brighter Futures conference at the ICC.
His work has played a key part in the city’s children’s transformation programme. In particular, his Blueprints for Violence Prevention work was used to select preventative programmes to be piloted in Birmingham.
The city council is putting in place measures designed to improve six key outcomes which have been identified through surveys of young people and their experiences.
These are physical health, behaviour, emotional health, social literacy, job skills, and literacy and numeracy.
Tony Howell, strategic director for Children, Young People and Families at Birmingham City Council, said: “This event enables all those people that work with children and young people to come together and learn more about our plans to improve outcomes for children and young people.
“We are especially delighted to welcome Del Elliott and are pleased that such a leading authority is interested in what we are doing and is keen to share his knowledge and research findings to support our work.”
Birmingham spends £1.3 billion on children’s services a year, with about £800 million going directly into school budgets. By spending £41.7 million in areas such as parenting, it is estimated that savings of £101 million can be made over a 15-year period that would otherwise have to be spent dealing with more entrenched problems in young people later in life.
Coun Les Lawrence, Birmingham’s Cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “We are doing this because it will provide better outcomes for our children. Our young people are the greatest resource in this city and we need to invest in them in order to create a prosperous future.
“Already we are seeing year-on-year improvements with examination results and we are committed to investing significantly in early years to reduce the need for more expensive intervention later in life.”
The Brighter Futures conference will provide an opportunity for front-line practitioners and managers working in children’s services to hear about the latest research findings and Birmingham’s programme of change.
