SHiFT works with vulnerable children and young people caught up in, or at risk of, cycles of harm where things are getting worse, not better.
Unconstrained by age, geographic or professional boundaries, SHiFT starts with aspiration and belief in all young people. We support them with unrivalled intensity, longevity and ambition - our work with young people finishes when they are set on a path for success.
SHiFT exists to break the destructive cycle of children caught up in, or at risk of, harm. We work with children and young people up to the age of 25 for whom things are getting worse, not better, and who would benefit most from an intensive, therapeutic relationship.
Working as highly skilled, multidisciplinary teams of professionals, SHiFT gets alongside young people who are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable and causing the most prolific and damaging harm to themselves and others. We start from wherever a young person is, working systemically with them, their family, friends, and community (including all statutory professionals in their lives) to develop high trust, culturally competent and strengths-driven relationships that catalyse pro-social change.
We know that change is difficult. We also know that young people in contact with the criminal justice system have complex and overlapping education, health, and social care needs. Offending behaviours can mask significant and underlying vulnerabilities. Recognising this, SHiFT commits to doing whatever it takes to break destructive cycles of harm and trauma. Unconstrained by age, geographic or professional boundaries, SHiFT starts with aspiration and belief in all young people. We support them with unrivalled intensity, longevity, and ambition - our work with young people finishes when they are set on a path for success.
At the heart of everything we are and everything we do is Breaking Cycles
a dynamic and evidence based approach to enabling change
created and pioneered by SHiFT's Chair and co-founder, Sophie Humphreys OBE.
A SHiFT Practice consists of five SHiFT Guides and a Practice Coordinator. SHiFT Guides come from a range of professional backgrounds, including social work, youth offending, education, probation service and healthcare. This dedicated team will support 20-25 children, each working with just four to five children at any one time, and supporting them over a period of around 18 months. They will work alongside and across the statutory system, ensuring duplication is avoided and scarce resources are directed and purposeful.
SHiFT has been founded by four of the UK's leading innovators in social policy, all of whom have an exceptional track record of turning an initial concept into concrete change. It offers a radical blueprint for challenging the way services are designed and delivered that will produce dramatically improved outcomes at significantly lower costs. In contrast with the £76,000 spent on keeping someone in a Young Offenders' Institution each year, or the annual £210,000 bill for a Secure Children's Home, participation in SHiFT will cost just £16,000 a year.
Watch our video to hear more about the SHiFT model.