Community Youth Teams

Community Youth Teams (CYTs) are a specialist service for vulnerable young people aged 10-18 years. We are a targeted, early help service which aims to support young people into positive destinations and reduce the likely-hood of them entering the criminal justice system. The service supports young people to engage with education, employment and training opportunities and reduce risk taking behaviours to promote longer term positive outcomes.

CYTs work with young people on a 1-1 basis and deliver a range of targeted detached youth work, universal and targeted youth sessions across the city and a range of targeted programmes with partner organisations. CYTs offer a city wide service, and work with schools, statutory and voluntary services, in a range of community based settings across Sheffield. Our aims are to:

• to intervene early to give young people who need help, the opportunities and support to help them realise their potential
• to steer young people away from crime and anti-social behaviour, helping them to stay in school and post-16 education, work or training 
• to promote healthy choices and reduce risky situations that could harm them, their friends, families and communities using a strengths based youth work model
• to support young people to develop positive self-identity, good mental health, confidence and resilience to make informed choices about their health, relationships, social time and future 
• to help protect young people from unsafe situations in relation to sexual exploitation, risky teenage relationships and harmful sexual behaviour, as well as criminal exploitation, extremist ideology and involvement with weapons and gang activity

Referrals

If you would like to refer a young person please complete a referral form and email it to us. The referral will then be discussed at a multi-agency CYT allocation meeting. This meeting will decide which agency is most appropriate to offer the support. If the young person is eligible for support then they, and the referring professional, will be notified. This will then lead onto an assessment. 

If the referral is seen as inappropriate then we will inform you of the reasons and offer suggestions of other services that may offer assistance.