Integrated youth support: Hackney creates youth work posts as part of improvements

The service has received 600,000 through Hackney's local area agreement to fund an increase in youth support workers as part of its improvement plan. A total of 12 new posts have been created on the integrated teams, including roles for health, mental health and social care professionals.

The youth service had already received 1.2m last year from the local area agreement after it was rated as "inadequate" by Ofsted in May 2006.

Dara De Burca, head of Hackney Youth Service, said: "Three new workers will be placed in each of our four areas in the borough under the new proposals."

The improvement plan has restructured the operation and delivery of youth work around four key areas of Hackney - Stoke Newington, Homerton, Shoreditch and Stamford Hill. In each area, an integrated youth support team that includes detached youth workers is being set up. Two of the teams have launched in Homerton and Shoreditch and the others will start in September.