Helping vulnerable young people to "stay on track" by avoiding situations such as early pregnancy, drug use and unemployment is at the heart of reforms by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to targeted youth support.
The department's guide on the matter, issued last week, draws together the lessons from 14 pathfinder local authorities (YPN, 4-10 April, p3). It calls for youth services and professionals from agencies including police, health, education, social services and housing to work closer together to develop more wraparound services for young people.
Early intervention
Deborah Thomas, integrated youth support strategy manager at Knowsley Borough Council, one of the pathfinders, says: "We are trying to get away from making the reforms just a youth service issue. They need to be put across to the whole council because young people use other services."
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