Interventions for Vulnerable Youth (IVY) Project

Kibble has run the vital, national service, Interventions for Young People (IVY) since 2019.  Funded by Scottish Government’s Youth Justice Team, the service promotes best practice in supporting children and young people up to the age of 19, who present a risk of harm to others.

As a government funded service there is no cost to referrers using the service.  We accept referrals from any professional working in the team around the young person.

The Scottish Government fund this service, therefore there are no costs to referrers or those using the service.

IVY, which has the only dedicated team of its kind in the country is a national service. Previously hosted by CYCJ, IVY has provided support for hundreds of children and young people, referred by all 32 Scottish local authorities, since it began in 2013.

What We Do

IVY is a specialist psychological and social work service which provides three types of service.

1. Professional Consultation and Advice
   We bring the team around the child together and complete a psychological risk formulation that explains the child’s behaviour, shares this understanding and makes recommendations for care planning and risk management. Note: this is our first step for all referrals to the service. Initial recommendations about further assessment and intervention from IVY are made within this forum.
   
2. Assessment
   This can include more comprehensive risk assessment, cognitive assessments or explorations of emerging personality and more.
   
3. Psychological Intervention
   This type of service can include both direct therapy to the child and / or direct support to those caring for the child.
   
   By providing specialist, therapeutic support, the IVY project aims to ensure the young people and the professionals supporting them have access to the best advice, practice assessment and interventions addressing psychological and forensic risk and needs.
   

Make a Referral

If you are concerned about a young person and would like to make a referral, please call us on 0300 303 2012 or email ivy@kibble.org. The Referral and Consent Forms are available for download below.

You can find out more information by accessing the leaflets below:

Our Specialist Team

• Executive Director and Forensic Psychologist
  Our Clinical Director provides overall clinical direction and operational management of the service.
  
• Consultant Clinical Psychologist
  Our consultant clinical psychologist provides leadership and governance to the wider team. As part of their role, they chair consultations and supervise practice.
  
• Social Work
  Our team of social workers support and contribute to provide a social work perspective in consultations. They bring expertise in community risk management and deliver level 2 and 3 support.
  
• Forensic Psychologists 
  Our team of psychologists chair consultations and deliver level 2 and 3 support. They provide psychological expertise regarding formulation, assessment and intervention.

Research

Kibble’s IVY service is committed to ongoing research, monitoring and evaluation to ensure we’re continuing to meet the needs of all those who access our service. Below you’ll find details of recent research conducted.

• Social workers’ experiences of psychological consultation on high risk youth: Helpful, unhelpful, and mediating elements
  
• Care-experienced young people’s views on what they want from mental health services
  
• Predictive Accuracy Following IVY Consultations

Evaluation

100% of professionals who completed our evaluation form said they would use our service again.

“It was extremely helpful to have professionals involved who were not working directly with the young person and could provide an unbiased view.”  

Social Worker

“Consultation was excellent and overall very helpful for our team in CAMHS.”

CAMHS Practitioner

 “The IVY team listened and attuned well to the various viewpoints of the team, and all opinions were taken into consideration. The formulation was a good representation of where things are at currently for the young person and their family, and the resultant recommendations were very helpful.”

Social Worker

Partnerships

The IVY team is proud to have partnered with a number of organisations. Additionally, we have had secondments and staff services from Glasgow Forensic CAMHS service.

We are keen to develop partnerships with local authorities, health boards and voluntary sector agencies, with a view to offering specialist support that is tailored to meet the specific needs of different services for young people.

Any agencies interested in discussing options for partnership working with the IVY Project, please contact dan.johnson@kibble.org.