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The Ferret: Youth work misses austerity opportunity

3 mins read
For years, the pages of CYP Now have been filled with stories about the damage caused to youth work by austerity, with services and funding much reduced. But new Youth Access chief executive James Kenrick has a different take on it - austerity has in fact been a missed opportunity for the sector.

Speaking to this esteemed organ, Kenrick said while austerity had been a "driver for reforms" in some sectors, there had been a "lost decade for youth work".

"It is a shame that youth work has been so slow to reform," he added. "We didn't have the leadership we needed in youth work at a critical point - we had a bit of abrogation of responsibility during those times."

However, Kenrick says he is optimistic about the future: "There's signs of youth work getting its act together. The Centre for Youth Impact is in a place to do some fresh thinking for the sector with a particular focus on outcomes, and there are some new chief executives [of youth organisations] so we're at quite an interesting point."

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