Youth Work Strategy

The National Youth Agency published a Vision for Youth Work for 2020-2030, with three main focus areas:

1. All young people have access to quality youth work and youth services, including:
   • Clear, statutory basis for open-access youth services, which are detached and targeted.
   • Qualified youth workers and youth support workers alongside trained volunteers.
   • Provision of detached and outreach youth work, digitised youth work and transport where needed.
   • Young people will be involved in co-design and development of services in their locality.
2. Youth work is recognised as a distinct form of education.
3. Mobilisation and the professional development of youth work.

A diverse youth workforce, representative of the communities they serve – from frontline to leadership - and youth services and activities that represent the diversity and identify of the local community, including public space, volunteering pathways and leadership in youth work.

• Increased volunteering, work experience and sustained employment opportunities for young people.
• Reduced negative outcomes for young people across communities, in a Public Health Approach including youth violence, mental health and loneliness.
• Digital literacy and an end to digital poverty, for future-jobs and to access digitised services.
• Enhanced social mobility for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas (lowest 40 per cent IMD), including their educational and employment outcomes.
• Increased levels of democratic engagement and young people actively involved in community leadership roles and decision-making across services and organisations.

UK Youth published a strategy for 2020 - 2025 based on an 18-month consultation and a foundation-building year in 2020 due to COVID.

The impact of COVID-19:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has literally changed the world and it has further illuminated that young people need a diverse range of support if they are to truly thrive.
• There are growing reports of mental health challenges as well as a lack of confidence in skills and prospects for the future.
• Young people are more vulnerable than ever to issues such as poverty, sexual exploitation, grooming and serious violence.
• A survey by the Office for National Statistics found that eight in ten young people were deeply concerned about the impact of the pandemic on their ability to attend education, young people from lower income homes are less likely to have developed a routine for learning, got help with school from family and struggled to understand homework.
• 66 per cent of youth organisations report an increase in demand.

UK Youth suggests that the youth sector needs:

1. A highly effective advocate.
2. A joined up, cross-sector approach.
3. Greater access to quality outdoor learning environments to support young people’s development and wellbeing.
4. Capacity building support in the form of workforce development and peer-to-peer support.
5. Support to embed evidence-based solutions.
6. Support to deliver meaningful youth engagement.
7. Greater digital skills and expertise.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has offered targeted youth provision for young people aged 13 - 19 years, up to 25 years if special educational needs and disability (SEND) through the Early Help and Prevention service since 2016. This has aimed to provide young people with every opportunity to achieve the best possible experiences and positive outcomes to fulfil their potential. Services are delivered across all localities and are free, safe, and offer supportive informal learning and recreational fun activities across the borough.

Increasingly, the local authority and partner agencies have developed an effective response to Contextualised Safeguarding that has led to a significant increase in the number of children being considered by the Contextual Safeguarding Hub and the Child Exploitation Operational Group.

The approach taken is needs led and the Youth Service offer has enhanced the way in which interventions are offered in response to the risks of criminal and sexual exploitation.

The service is starting to see much younger children, sometimes primary age, engaging in activities that can make them vulnerable to exploitation and harm. This requires a response to those children under the age of 13 years. To meet this increasing demand a focused and targeted approach has been taken involving one-to-one work and small group sessions.

Since March 2020 there has been no centre-based youth provision due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In place of this provision however, the Youth Service have continued to offer support to our most vulnerable young people.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 all young people have been supported by the Council’s youth service. Young people have been ‘RAG’ (Red, Amber, Green) rated in terms of their vulnerability and the level of support required from the service to meet their needs. For those requiring more intensive support, closer working relationships have developed over the last 18 months with Children’s Social Care services as well as education staff for vulnerable children in schools and colleges. More widely, work has also been done with Police, charities and community organisations to offer support and training, including sexual health training.

A lot of work went into arranging 'COVID packs' to support young people, the value of this was recognised and the feedback received was very positive. Individual packs were put together specifically to meet the needs of each young person.

This Youth Strategy is set to support the overall Council strategy, the Council Plan, for the borough through to 2024, known as Play your Part to Thrive and the Stronger Futures 2020-2024 which outline Council priorities, including several that our youth provision can support. These include tackling the poverty emergency, growing the local economy, supporting children and young people to get the best start in life and achieve their full potential, and making our neighbourhoods even better places to call home.

This strategy sets out how our targeted youth provision will support meeting this Plan in working to meet the needs of young people in the borough through youth services delivered through a range of face-to-face and digital methods, better using technology to support youth workers and young people. This included support our vulnerable cohorts such as our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) population, and giving a voice for young people in community settings and in groups across the borough such as the Youth Senate to inform and shape work locally on issues that affect them.

Similar to the UK Youth suggestions for the sector, the Youth Provision Scrutiny Review 2019-21 found that:

• More availability of modern technology would enhance youth work provision.
• More use of modern communication methods such as social media could get information to young people more quickly.
• Further development of the workforce could enhance and reduce gaps in preventative, early intervention work.
• Young people are well placed to help shape provision and should inform decision-making to best meet their needs.
• Continue to provide support to voluntary sector in order to meet the ongoing additional needs of our young people.