Councils redeploy youth workers to social care roles, warns report

The National Youth Agency’s (NYA) Youth Services in England: Changes and Trends in the Provision of Services report claims that councils are redeploying qualified youth workers, including those in Wigan and Sefton, to new roles that support social care functions in a bid to keep up with the demand for targeted services.

The report, based on information provided by the heads of six regional youth work units, also claims that some qualified youth workers, including those in the London borough of Hackney, have been redeployed into Troubled Families teams.

Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the NYA, fears that the trend has worrying implications for young people.

“There is an overall trend for the skills of the youth worker to be deployed with young people identified as vulnerable or at risk rather than in open access settings,” she said.

“The implications of this are obvious – that young people who do not fall into this category do not benefit from their skills, a relationship with a trusted adult and the chance to develop critical social and emotional skills.

“For some young people just below the radar of the criminal, health or social services, this can be the difference between the support that sets them on a positive course or a much more costly intervention later on.”

The report, published in partnership with the Network of Regional Youth Work Units England, also warns that many authorities are failing to publish details of local services for young people and claims that not a single council in the south west of England currently publishes a youth offer, which provides a directory of services available.

However, the report claims that councils are taking steps to protect their local youth voice despite widespread cuts to youth service spend – a reduction of £103m between 2012/13 and 2013/14 according to latest Department for Education figures – with some, including Gloucestershire, making youth participation the responsibility of the chief executive.