Policy in practice: Wise up on... integrated services

The Youth Matters green paper, published in 2005, called for integrated youth support services to be in place before the end of 2008 to help all young people achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes. Many local authorities in England are currently preparing to implement these services in the New Year, although there is still no definitive deadline.

Integrated youth support services (IYSS) are a response to the tragic case of Victoria Climbie, who died after repeated abuse from her guardians was not picked up by social services.

It involves bringing the different services that work with children and young people closer together. It is hoped this will ensure information is shared between different professionals and that young people can deal with staff whom they know. Integrated support covers the delivery of positive activities, information, advice and counselling, and targeted support for vulnerable teenagers. Service structures can be merged or local teams comprising a range of different professionals can be set up to work with the most challenging young people.

The new system will mean big changes in the way youth work is commissioned. The government is keen to encourage local authorities to look outside their own organisations and use the skills of the voluntary sector. By their rationale, voluntary projects are often both more dynamic and more efficient providers of services and do not carry the negative perceptions that councils often have in the eyes of young people.

- What will the new services look like?

The government says that it is up to local authorities to decide how to structure the new system. What the government has been prescriptive about are the underlying principles and standards it wants to see, such as involvement from young people in shaping the structure and delivery of services. Other key principles are a focus on the outcomes of Every Child Matters, a single point of access for young people, a focus on prevention and early intervention.

This last issue has changed recently. Originally the government set up 14 targeted youth support pathfinders to look at ways of devoting extra attention towards the most troubled young people. But one of the lessons learned was that good support only works within improved universal provision.

There are many different types of structures available to councils. For example, in Gloucester the local authority has brought together its youth service, Connexions and youth offending team. In other areas, such as Coventry and Warwickshire, the council has decided to retain existing structures but where possible locate different services in the same office.

A common strategy is to leave the services as they are but break up the borough into a number of "locality teams" comprising a range of professionals from social services, health, youth service, youth offending and education. The government has suggested three possible models. The first is a multi-agency panel in which practitioners continue to be employed by their home agencies, but agree to meet regularly as a panel to discuss children and young people with additional needs. The second is a multi-agency team where practitioners are seconded or recruited into the team and line-managed by their team leader, meaning it is a more formal partnership than the panel. The final model is the integrated service, which brings together a range of services, usually under one roof.

- How will it affect me?

Youth workers will be expected to work closely with other professionals and they might even have to share the same offices. Many managers will now be overseeing "localities" instead of whole boroughs and youth workers could be reporting to people with no youth work background. Joint training and work shadowing of other professions are two approaches that may become commonplace.

On the plus side, this way of working may make for a more flexible service where workers use their initiative to help young people in a joined up way. It may free workers from bureaucratic constraints, provide stimulating opportunities to share learning and skills and help to destigmatise services that were previously seen as cut off from mainstream youth services. On the flipside, the Community & Youth Workers' Union fears that it is part of the government's efficiency drive and will undermine youth work specialisms.

Other possible challenges include defining roles, developing skills for collaborative working and working with people from a range of social and professional cultures. Already some managers have reported staff problems, such as employees nervous about having to adopt new roles, or resentful of colleagues earning more than them. It's early days though, and most managers believe the new system will eventually lead to better working practices.

MORE INFO

- The National Youth Agency: http://www.nya.org.uk/Templates/internal.asp?NodeID =95460- From the government:http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/integr atedworking/- For examples of local authority progress, the National Foundation for Educational Research offers the following case studies:http://www.nfer.ac.uk/emie/content.asp?id_Category=158&id _Content= 4791&level=3.