CYP Now - US YOUTH WORK: Born in the USA

Youth work in the United States doesn't have a statutory base and has suffered savage funding cuts. But on a visit to the States, Doug Nicholls, general secretary of the Community and Youth Workers' Union, finds that the potential is there to create a world-class youth service.

Walking past the White House afterwards, then in full combat mode against Iraq, I was amazed at the lack of young people in the capital. But reality hit me on the outskirts, when I visited suburbs wracked by some of the worst youth problems in the industrialised world.

Nearly a quarter of Washington DC's young people live in extreme poverty.

Every year, 2,500 young people between 10 and 17 are arrested for violent and property crimes.

Dealing with problems like these needs big money and big imagination.

Federal funding for youth organisations stands at $623m, with a dedicated youth services block coming out of Department of Labour-related expenditure.

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