Daily roundup: Young offenders, youth work and youth homlessness

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has told Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, that plans to close seven specialist young adult young offender institutions will not work. The YJB has said it does not accept that mixing young adults with older prisoners will provide the protection and support required to rehabilitate 18-20-year-olds at the peak age of offending. It says there is little evidence that mixing age groups reduces violence, the Guardian reports.

A 10-week public consultation on plans to reshape Wiltshire’s youth services has been launched. Wiltshire County Council has put forward four proposals, including one to outsource the service, as part of its plans to cut its youth service budget by £500,000. The review is part of council-wide plans to save £120m over the next four years.

A youth homeless charity has been awarded £100,000 by the People’s Postcode Lottery. Depaul UK will use the money to fund services in the North East where increasing long-term employment is putting young people at greater risk of social exclusion and homelessness.

A new campaign urging GPs and other health professionals to be more aware of the needs of young deaf patients has been launched. The National Deaf Children’s Society’s My Life, My Health campaign was launched in response to research by the charity which found that deaf children and young people are not receiving enough support from GPs when accessing health services.