Young and at-risk saved on the street

Cuts to local authority youth services have been a common feature of recent reports into how public services tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Both Alexis Jay's report into CSE in Rotherham and Birmingham Council's investigation into the extent of the issue in the city found that youth workers are vital to identifying early the children vulnerable to abuse, and that reductions to funding and services could see this early warning system dismantled.

In an effort to fill the void left by youth work cuts, YMCA England set up a project in October 2013 to engage 10- to 25-year-olds from some of the most deprived estates in North Tyneside, Sutton Coldfield and south east London through a new street youth work project called Better Futures.

Funded by a grant of £300,000 from the Clothworker's Foundation, the three-year project targets young people who are not yet receiving support from local services, but are vulnerable to becoming involved in gangs because of where they live or other risk factors.

Under the scheme, two part-time youth workers from each of the YMCAs - North Tyneside, Sutton Coldfield and Thames Gateway - spend three evenings a week out on the streets making contact with young people who they think could benefit from the charity's intensive support.

An evaluation of the first year of the programme - compiled by YMCA England and published in December - shows that all three areas reported seeing the effects of council funding cuts on youth work.

"In Birmingham, they have particularly noticed a lack of youth service provision," says Christine Douglas, head of fundraising operations at YMCA England.

"In days gone by, YCMAs would be complementing local authority youth services, but in the areas our youth workers are working, there's nothing at all.

"It's something we thought would be an issue, but it was even more of an issue than we expected."

As a result, Douglas, who is managing the project, says the youth workers have highlighted a real need for a local youth base or youth centre.

Since the programme's launch, the street-based teams have made contact with 403 young people - the majority (229) of whom were aged between 14- and 18-years-old - but Douglas says the closure of many youth centres makes it difficult for the teams to provide long-term support.

"The street project is really good for getting young people engaged, but if you want longer conversations and get them to move on to discuss particular topics, you need a base for that," she explains.

The youth workers have highlighted several emerging themes, including food poverty and racism among young people, but of particular concern - and one that mirrors a finding from the Rotherham report - is a lack of trust in the police service.

However, Douglas says the street-based teams are overcoming the problem by getting police community support officers (PCSOs) involved in regular activities with young people.

"In London, the PCSO plays football with the young people once a week," she says. "He leaves all of his stuff - radio, mobile phone - on the touchline, but he doesn't worry that they're going to touch it, which is important given the recent problems with stop and search."

Douglas says that the teams are yet to come across a case of CSE, but she is careful not to rule it out and hopes that the project's focus on providing young people with a safe place would help to combat any CSE-related problems that arise.

"One of the key aims was about creating much more of a sense of community cohesion and making young people feel like they have a place in the community," she says.

"Already we're starting to see that happen."

Guide taps into renewed interest in street youth work, says Don Irving

"Over the past couple of years, we have seen a resurgence in the number of youth workers taking their work out onto the streets. While this was a more common occurrence in the 1980s and '90s, over time additional tasks and workload had seen a decrease in the numbers of detached and outreach teams, as well as the training, available to them.

More recently, with the hard hit of cuts to funding and local youth services, we have once again seen a revival of street youth work, with more and more organisations - from charities to housing associations - seeing the need to actively seek out young people in need of their support. This could be for a variety of reasons: from young people who are congregating on street corners with nowhere to go to those who are unemployed, sex workers or runaways.

Speaking to youth workers and youth work organisations around the world, it became clear that there was a desire for a practical toolkit that staff and volunteers could use to be effective in their work and explore fears and concerns while staying safe on the streets.

We developed our practical guide, called On the Street, to provide a useful induction, which sits alongside the usual organisational policies and procedures. The toolkit helps workers to set boundaries, develop skills and create their own tools of the trade.

With more youth organisations being called upon to plug gaps in funding and services, it is vital that workers have the right skills and confidence to carry out this often challenging, but equally rewarding and essential, role."

Don Irving is youth and play manager at YMCA North Tyneside and co-author of On the Street: A Practical Guide for New Social Street Workers.