We’re delighted to share that the Race Equality Foundation has been awarded funding from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) through its Supportive Homes programme to deliver the Safer Lives project.
This new phase builds directly on the feasibility study we completed with YEF in 2023–24, which tested the Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) programme with families where a young person was involved in or at risk of offending. The earlier work showed that SFSC was well received by parents, that engagement levels were strong when the programme was delivered by trusted local partners, and that there was clear potential to achieve positive change for families. Those findings shaped the design of the new Safer Lives project and confirmed that a larger-scale evaluation was both viable and needed.
Over the next three years, the project will work with 600 families across five sites – four in London and one in Manchester – to understand how practical, community-led family support can reduce risks linked to offending and strengthen safety and stability at home. The project will particularly reach families whose children are known to youth justice or early help services and who may face additional barriers linked to discrimination or disadvantage.
The work will be independently evaluated by a team led by Sajid Humayan at the University of Greenwich, with academics from City, University of London, St George’s, University of London, and the University of Manchester. Together, we’ll explore how a strengths-based parenting approach, delivered by trusted practitioners, can help young people make safer choices and improve family wellbeing.
To deliver the programme, we are building a new Safer Lives team, including a Programme Manager, Senior Programme Officer, five Parent Programme Officers, and three Peer Researchers with relevant lived experience and local insight.
The project officially began in October 2025, and we have begun recruitment for several of these posts in London and Manchester. These roles offer the chance to be part of an ambitious national study exploring what works to support families and prevent offending.
Further details about the posts and how to apply are on our website and social media channels.
We want to hear from you if you work with young people or parents and:
- Your service wants to be involved in the project
- You have parents who might want to access the programme
- You know of parents or young people who might want to join our lived experience group
