Back Page: Last word

By now most people must have come across the triangular diagram of the different tiers of service provision that should be available to support children, young people and families.

At the base are universal services such as schools. In the middle are targeted services including speech and language therapy. Right at the top are specialist services, such as child protection and adoption.

But while some services do fit very neatly into this model, I'm increasingly convinced that youth work doesn't.

We might like to think of youth services providing a universal service, but with much of the work either targeted on particular neighbourhoods or at specific groups of young people, it's difficult to argue that we're really universal. So are we a targeted service? Not if you look at the participation data coming out of most youth services.