Measures to assess integrated youth services published

In the document, Better Never Stops, Chyps claims quality assessments for youth services have been "significantly absent", which could have a negative impact on how the delivery of these services is viewed.

Susie Roberts, chief executive of Chyps, hopes the proposals will kickstart a discussion with the Department for Children, Schools and Families about creating a set of measures to assess the overall quality of Integrated Youth Support Services (IYSS).

"We hope we'll be able to develop a programme of work with our partners, the DCSF and Ofsted, looking at how we can better shape the quality performance of IYSS," she said.

Roberts added that, in the meantime, the proposals could be used by directors of children's services as a basis for any plans they may have to regulate the quality of their IYSS.

The measures are based on the five targets outlined in the Public Service Agreement 14, which aims to "increase the number children and young people on the path to success". The targets include reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training, increasing participation in positive activities, and reducing alcohol and drug abuse, teen pregnancy and youth crime rates.

They were developed by a team of bodies including the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers and the National Connexions Network. The National Youth Agency and the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services were also involved, along with the Regional Youth Work Unit (East).

The authors of the proposal also hope the measures will encourage increased consultation with young people regarding their views of service quality.