The Children's Society's Next Gen Programme will work to implement a coordinated systemic approach in collaboration with voluntary and statutory partners to embed new and effective ways of working, applying systems change process and leadership to build better outcomes for young people facing poverty and disadvantage.

Key principles of this model are:

• City-wide Systems Leadership - Working together

• One-to-one intervention with high-risk young people across the City and County

• Co-production with service beneficiaries

• Capacity building and workforce development

The Children’s Society service model aims to enable young people to build trusting relationships, whilst helping them to navigate (often invisible) challenges in the system. NextGen’s relationship-based approach, working with young people and their families seeks to add value to existing services. Alongside intensive case work with and advocacy for young people they aim to address systemic barriers to change. They have aligned to key forums and programmes, including Small Steps, Big Change and Opportunity Nottingham. A sustainable offer for young people will include:

1. Individual in-depth support to young people so they navigate systems, gain stability, and thrive

2. Work with young people’s close networks e.g. family and friends

3. Systems thinking and action – design the local system around the young person

The Children’s Society will deliver case work with 20 young people aged between 11 and 18 years who are most at risk in the City and County who have or are currently experiencing a range of challenges such as being distant from education, troubled home lives, criminal exploitation, domestic abuse, Child Sexual Exploitation and lack of stability in and out of statutory care. The approach is to offer intensive support for young people responding to whatever need they have in order to help them find a stable place in their lives. This may include:

• Support to navigate a complex system – guiding young people through the day to day challenges that they are experiencing

• Working outside of the ‘norms’ i.e. visits to prison, emotional support in court, support to attend appointments that would normally be missed

• Working with extended family

• Partnership working with statutory and voluntary agencies

• Support with perusing and accessing hobbies and interests

• Life skills and self-care

• Choices and consequences

• Support to ensure that wishes and feelings are heard

• Holding others to account – we advocate for young people and have challenged stagnant Child Protection planning