With many children's services providers experiencing a shortage of staff, six professionals - from a director of children's services to a foster carer - explain what prompted them to change careers and the benefits this brings.
The 12-page special report takes an in-depth look at youth work in the 2020s, including how recent policy and funding developments could signal a revival of the profession. Practice examples include: how YMCA North Tyneside tackles homelessness through training young people; how spinning out of council control has helped Lewisham youth mutual to invest in local young people; and the work carried out by youth clubs in Northamptonshire to tackle knife crime.
In addition, childcare groups identify the key changes that should be made to the revised early years foundation stage framework as a consultation on the proposals closes.
Also in the February 2020 edition:
- Youth justice - Recruitment campaigns and improved training are vital to make the secure estate safer
- Early years - Latest analysis of the childcare workforce concludes that government skills and training reforms have failed
- Health - Kate Collins, the Teenage Cancer Trust's chief executive, outlines her vision for improved mental health support
- Education - Former Ofsted social care chief Eleanor Schooling on her new role leading improvement in Hackney schools
- Youth work - YMCA analysis reveals the areas with the deepest local authority youth service spending cuts
- Social care - Why the partnership between Peterborough Council and charity Tact collapsed and what can be learned
You can see the full contents of the current edition here
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