Ceredigion SOC Evaluation: Summary report of the Ceredigion Serious and Organised Crime Intervention – Phase 2

This report presents the key findings and recommendations from the second phase of the Ceredigion SOC project, which ran from September 2018 to April 2019. A total of 31 young people were recruited to the project, with 29 successfully completing. The interventions consisted of 6 weeks of structured activities that covered topics including web safety, mood and emotions, and substance misuse. Information was collected on each young person concerning their risk of criminality/vulnerability, ACEs, and SOC involvement/susceptibility. Additional behavioural/attitudinal before and after measures of resilience and well-being were also collected. Data indicated a widely heterogeneous group of young people, many with complex needs and medium-high levels of risk of being vulnerable to exploitation in SOC activities and lifestyles. Overall, the programme was well received by the young people with very low dropout and attendance was over 90% amongst completers. Whilst changes in resilience and well-being as a cohort didn’t record any significant changes, several young people showed some positive distance travelled in terms of confidence and engagement.

Selected risk profiles indicated a number of broad pathways of vulnerability in being drawn into SOC and a range of risk factors associated with vulnerability. A SOC workbook for practitioners is also being produced to allow the work to be repeated in other locations.