Youth Work Special Report: Research evidence
By Leigh Middleton, chief executive, National Youth Agency
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
There is a renewed focus on the impact of youth services and how youth work is resourced and delivered.
The building blocks for change were laid in the 2019 inquiry on youth work by the all-party parliamentary group on youth affairs. This includes the current review of statutory guidance for youth services, youth work curriculum and qualifications carried out by NYA, and new commissioning guidelines. A youth investment fund is promised that is geared to capital funding of youth centres but also towards quality youth services and opening up career pathways in youth work. The next step is to initiate a national census of youth work provision, to inform the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review later this year and in support of local youth partnerships, which it has pledged to create to co-ordinate youth provision locally.
Revival of youth services
After a decade of retreat there is a sense of urgency for the revival of youth services and investment in youth work. But why? National crises, notably for youth violence, mental health services and social care have exposed the decline in youth services. The previous decade, and longer, had seen youth work become increasingly targeted and embedded in other roles for social care and youth offending, not always readily identified as youth work and losing the identity as youth workers. Yet now there is greater recognition of the role and value of youth services, with a chorus of support for youth work from beyond the sector. This is critical, especially at a time when there are competing demands for more police officers and nurses, and recruitment shortages for teachers and social workers, which resonate with the public and politicians.
From police chiefs – who want to see greater investment in youth services that support communities in response to violence, exploitation and crime – to the children’s commissioner for England – who has called for youth work in schools to counter exclusions and to develop personal and social skills – there are different ideas for what the future holds.
The change of emphasis sees a shift towards community groups and interventions for cohorts of young people, notably in a public health approach to youth violence. It lays down the challenge to reinvest in – and for some areas to reinstate – open-access youth services.
This throws into sharp relief the role of youth services, the evidence base and how youth work is delivered. Valuable new work on the Outcomes Framework (Centre for Youth Impact and Local Government Association) and Youth Work Curriculum review led by NYA provide firm foundations. At its heart youth work remains an educational process that engages with young people in a curriculum that deepens a young person’s understanding of themselves, their community and the world in which they live. It relies on building trusted relationships sustained over time and professional competencies for situated and experiential learning, and bridging the role between young people, families and other services within communities.
Development and resources
In recent years, studies have looked at youth work in different settings or policy areas. There is much to be learned to inform how youth services are developed and youth work is resourced. Here, three studies are considered: on youth work in schools, for mental health and in response to gangs. Each provides evidence and raises questions on how youth and community work is delivered. There is no one-size-fits-all approach and a mix of provision is required in most cases. It is as much about how youth work is understood – by other professions and commissioners – and how it fits within the bigger picture for example on education, health, gangs and exploitation.
The studies reveal the strength of the voluntary engagement with youth workers and in providing a safe space for young people to forge trusted relationships; the significant impact of youth participation in design and delivery of services; and the importance of an honest relationship between funders and providers, as we look towards local youth partnerships.
In rebuilding youth services the sector must move forward to meet the needs and lived experience of the young people it works with. Keeping pace of developments with the breadth of youth work professionals and practice, from youth work in schools to detached youth workers, and professional qualified youth workers to trained youth support workers and skilled volunteers.
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