Yet recent policy development and aspiration theoretically opens the door to some new possibilities. Youth Matters: Next Steps talks about "lead professionals" and "someone to talk to". The Social Exclusion Unit's Transitions report, published last autumn, restates the case first made in its PAT 12 Report in 2000 for trusted adults and "critical people at critical moments". Youth Matters: Next Steps also puts young people in the driving seat, through the Youth Opportunity Fund and the controversial opportunity cards.
Somewhat mischievously, I thought about taking this position further and arguing the case for "opportunity people". What if young people could have a bank account of professional time, calibrated according to an assessment of individual need, so disadvantaged young people had a larger credit rating or overdraft?
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