Service keeping city’s young people safely with their own families Highly Commended at national awards

A service which helps to keep up to 88% of vulnerable young people living safely with their families has been Highly Commended at the HSJ awards.

The HSJ Awards are the most respected awards for healthcare excellence in the UK. 

The multi-agency project involves teams from the city council, Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT), and Staffordshire Police and works to ensure vulnerable young people can remain safely at home with their families

One young person receiving support from the service said: “I find the workers of the Catalyst team very helpful with any needs or problems I have, the team support me day to day and have been helping me become more independent and ready for adult life.”

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for children’s services at the city council, said: “Huge congratulations to everyone involved with The Catalyst Project for this well-deserved recognition of the fantastic work they do. The project perfectly represents our aims as a city council to provide the right support to young people and their families at the right time – work that’s already working to bring down the number of children in care.

Claire Bailey, managing director of MPFT’s Children and Families Care Group said: “This has been an incredibly important project due to the positive impact it has had on young people and their families. The team has worked hard to deliver a multi-agency and collaborative approach. The recognition of their work ethic and impact on young people is deserving of such credible award recognition.”

DCI Amy Martin- Child, of the Public Protection Unit at Staffordshire Police, said: “We are delighted that the Catalyst programme has been highly commended in the HSJ awards.

“We embarked on this journey with our partners with the aim to provide targeted interventions to some of our most vulnerable children and families with the view to improving their outcomes, preventing and deterring from offending and supporting them in a holistic and child-centred way.

“As a partnership, we have seen some great successes, not only in improving outcomes for the children and families, but also by a significant reduction in demand to our services. We are dedicated to continuing to support the programme and look forward to its future successes.”