The National Youth Agency: Detached youth work conference to lookat Every Child Matters outcomes

The focus was on the implications for detached youth work of recent policies and initiatives including Transforming Youth Work, Every Child Matters and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It also looked at recent evaluations of youth work and Connexions carried out by De Montfort University, Leicester.

A principal action of the conference was determining and demonstrating how detached youth work could contribute to the five outcomes set out in Every Child Matters. The conference identified three key areas for action by the federation. Raising the quality of practice was one, and the federation is currently preparing guidelines for detached youth work and plans to make training a priority. The federation, alongside The National Youth Agency, will also address management and infrastructure via a seminar later in the year and has acquired new funding to develop guidelines on standards and excellence. Finally, the federation will address social policy by developing a dossier of case studies on ASBOs where detached youth workers have been involved.