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Streets of Growth Founder with London Police

Applied Research
& Client Experience Unit (AR-CX)

Over the past three decades our relentless frontline work and extensive international research sharing and learning best practice has played a crucial role in the understanding and advancement of prevention and intervention work in this context. Just as important is our evidence-based outcomes and impacts system that incorporates what the young adult clients experience of us and our bespoke services, to ensure we are acting with insight and integrity. Streets of Growth have evolved this into an Applied Research and Client Experience Unit (AR-CX) to continually advance our knowledge, training, delivery, impact measurement and consultancy. (Pictured above - training new Police Constables and Detectives in our model of approach as part of the Met Police 'familiarisation training' of new recruits.)

Alan presenting challenges young people face including advocating for change.

AR – Applied Research

The Applied Research (AR) arm of our Unit is about continually testing and challenging our own assumptions, behaviours and habitual ways of working. Having the safety, ability and workplace environment to critically think and reflect means we are better equipped to identify what works and why, and be aligned on what we have to keep doing, stop doing and start doing. This ensures our approach remains relevant and progressive in the 'real time' realities of the young adults we partner and equip for change.

 

Our work directly engages and responds to the challenges young people face including advocating for change. For example, based on our work challenging Child Criminal Exploitation in the community, we have embarked on a research project exploring modern slavery policy and practice. This work focuses on analysing how victimhood is framed within policy, whilst contrasting this with the lived experiences of the young adult clients we engage. In short, we are asking if modern slavery policy responds appropriately to the lived experience of criminal exploitation in our communities.

Alan and Darren discussing the Experience (CX) arm of Streets of Growth

CX – Client Experience

The Client Experience (CX) arm of our Unit analyses how our young clients understand and engage our services. This includes how they may initially reject and resist our services, beginning to trust and engage, relapsing and dropping out, and coached to re-engage and self-maintain their change through to exiting.

 

For young adult populations who are seriously stuck and living dangerous lifestyles, it can be an extremely daunting and uncertain prospect to consider engaging change. We value and honour the ‘relationships for change’ we cultivate with young

clients by inviting and gathering feedback on our practice throughout the change process. We do this to ensure that our relationships and interventions are appropriate, relevant and timely. How young people experience our practice is at the heart of everything we do. We have committed our lives to producing breakthroughs that strike a balance between young person-led, community-led and organisation/institution-led to ensure young people are not 'done to' and can shift position from being highly dependent into self-maintaining positive change in their lives.

Image by Richard Bell

Case Study

45% Reduction in Anti-social Behaviour

“Over the past three years an innovative partnership between Streets of Growth Outreach & Street Intervention Team, Police ASB Team, Tower Hamlets Homes ASB Team, and key neighbours created a joined-up approach. Strategically working together, we developed an effective ‘positive requirement’ pathway for identified young adults, which involved prevention and intervention, alongside law enforced Containment when it was required to break the cycle of harm, violence, criminality and poverty. Evidenced impacts from this coalition marked a 45% reduction in Anti-social behaviour across the estates it was delivered.

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