BOROUGH OF POOLE

COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND EDUCATION

SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

13 March 2007

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR (CHILDREN’S SERVICES) AND THE HEAD OF PUPIL, PARENT AND YOUTH SERVICES

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED YOUTH SUPPORT SERVICE

1.Purpose of the Report

1.1To gain Elected Members’ support for the process of developing an integrated service structure to deliver the four areas of support identified in the Government’s Green Paper ‘Youth Matters’.

2. Recommendations Required

2.1To endorse the project approach adopted to shape the commissioning of the new services;

2.2To support the partnership approach to creating new services;

2.3To request that officers explore the legality of developing a service partnership with the Connexions service.

3.Background

Connexions Funding

3.1The review of our approach to services to young people has been prompted by the Government’s requirement that all local authorities lead local partnerships to develop a new integrated approach to work with young people. To support this change the funding that currently meets the cost of the Connexions Service will be channelled through the Children’s Trust arrangements from April 2008. Government requires that the Connexions profile is maintained thereafter.

3.2Local Authorities are approaching this change in a variety of ways the options being:

a)take over Connexions as an in-house service;

b)define a service brief and go out to tender;

c)creation of new companies with part-ownership by the local authority;

d)partnership arrangements defined in service level agreements.

3.3The first two options have been adopted in areas where the Connexions Service and the local authority have the same boundaries such as Gloucestershire and Northumberland. The new company approach has been adopted where the Connexions Service covers more than one authority such as the West of England (South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset, and Swindon) and the last option has been taken up where partnership, especially in the development of localities is well developed (Somerset).

3.4The Dorset Connexions Service covers Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole. Each of these authorities is developing different approaches to locality working and to partnership. Given the complexity of unpicking the current organisation the Connexions Board have asked that the three authorities explore the legality of a service level agreement at least in the short term. Grant funding may be available for the financial year 2008/9 to support the restructuring of services. Bids for this funding will be required by July 2007 and will need to cover the Connexions area of Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole.

3.5The Children’s Services Board have asked that the Poole partnership should explore the development of a new service including the way in which all partner organisations structure their services to develop a single integrated approach to services for young people. This will require a review of all service structures and the roles of partners, not just Connexions. As a result the following project structure has been created to shape plans for the new service.

3.6Appendix A sets out the legislative background, objectives, principles, and focus for the review.

3.7Project Structure:

CONTACT

John Nash

Strategic Director (Children’s Services)

01202 633202

e.mail:
APPENDIX A

BACKGROUND TO THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATED YOUTH SUPPORT SERVICE

1.Defining the Target Group

1.1Universal services as outlined in the document are aimed at all young people aged 11-19. Targeted services refer to vulnerable groups of young people. However, the intention here is to be preventative and, in some case, this means organising the support or the intervention while the young person is at risk of failure and not waiting until they have become failures in one of the five outcomes listed in the Children’s Act 2004. We cannot be too particular about the age ranges that we are serving. ‘Youth Matters’ suggests 11-19 but if a young person is seeking advice at an earlier age, then they should not be turned away. Similarly, those in care able to go on to higher education remain our responsibility until the age of 23 or even 24 and those young people with Special Educational Needs until they make a successful transition to adult services or age 25, whichever is the sooner.

2.Four Areas of Support

2.1The ‘Youth Matters’ sets Local Authorities and their partners four challenges in relation to support on offer to young people:

Offer Positive Activities (Universal)

2.2The Education and Inspection Act 2006 places a new duty on Local Authorities, to secure access to educational and recreational leisure time activities for young people with sufficient facilities for such activities.

2.3Meeting the duty will require detailed analysis of the sufficiency of current provision taking into account young peoples’ views and the needs of disadvantaged young people. Authorities will be expected to set out their vision for the local offer using National Standards due to be published in 2007.

Draft standards include;

  • Access to 2 hours a week sporting activities; team or individual.
  • Access to 2 hours other constructive activities; personal interest and hobbies.
  • Opportunity to make a positive contribution to community through volunteering.
  • A wide range of recreational, cultural, sporting and enriching experiences.
  • A range of safe and enjoyable places to spend time

Offer Volunteering Activity (universal)

2.4The Local Authority should enable young people to participate in volunteering activity. It should support the development of youth volunteering by promoting opportunities, improving access and addressing barriers which impact on young peoples’ participation. In partnership with young people and the Voluntary and Statutory Youth Sector the Local Authority should champion the engagement of young people in community activity.

Provide Effective Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) (Universal)

2.5Information, Advice and guidance is available on a wide range of topics relevant to the lives of 11-19 year olds, such as education, employment and training, free-time, health, housing, law and citizenship, money, relationships, travel and where to get help. Delivery of IAG must comply with the Guidance Council Code of Principles and be impartial, confidential, owned by the young person and promote equality of opportunity.

2.5.1Information is data on any of the topics listed above and can be conveyed through written/printed matter, face to face contact (individually or in groups), help-lines, ICT software, websites, audio/visual media. Accessing and using information may or may not be facilitated by another party. New legislation within the Education and Inspections Act creates a statutory duty on the Local Authority to publicise information about positive activities and related facilities in its area. The Government’s expectation is that the local authority should improve theirinformation to young people ensuring that it is comprehensive, accurate, and accessible.

2.5.2Advice involves helping a young person to understand and interpret information, answering questions and clarifying misunderstandings, understanding a young person’s circumstances, abilities and targets and looking at options on a given course of action. Also involves referring and signposting some young people to more in- depth guidance and support. Advisory work can be provided one-to-one or in groups.

2.5.3Guidance aims to support young people to better understand themselves and their needs, explores their circumstances, enable them to confront barriers to progression, resolve issues and conflicts and supports them to develop new perspectives and be better able to manage their lives and achieve their potential. Guidance may also involve advocacy and referral. Guidance is one-to-one work conducted by trained staff qualified and competent in guidance work.

2.5.4Provision of IAG is currently through a range of statutory and voluntary sector organisations, available in both school and community outlets. In schools organisations such as Connexions, the PCT, Youth Service, YADAS (Young Adults Drug and Alcohol Advisory Service) are involved in provision. Some of these organisations cover the full range of IAG topics, others (e.g. PCT & YADAS) focus on a narrower area. Those involved in Pastoral support in schools will also deliver IAG. It may be cross-curricular as well as being embedded in Personal Social and Health Education, Careers Education Information and Guidance, Citizenship and Work Related Learning.

2.5.5There is a statutory responsibility for delivery of Careers information, advice and guidance in schools and Connexions delivers this in all secondary schools across Poole. In the community the Connexions Centre and Quay Advice Centre, both located in the town centre, offer a broad range of IAG and referrals are made for specialist services not covered by these centres. Connexions provides a specialist but universal Careers guidance service.

2.5.6There are a range of national and local help-lines and websites.

2.5.7Young People’s Information, Advice and Guidance Quality Standards are due for publication in April 2007. Generic elements of these will include;

  • the requirement that IAG is comprehensive, up to date, accessible and impartial
  • definitions of the necessary skills, knowledge, competence and qualifications to deliver the IAG services
  • embedding of IAG in the school curriculum
  • guidance on awareness raising for parents/carers as well as young people on what is available and how to access it.

Integrated Targeted Support (Targeted)

2.5.8The Government’s targeted youth support prospectus will be published in 2007 and will offer a detailed vision and practical help for local areas in reforming their targeted youth support services, based on the experience of the fourteen pathfinder areas. This service will focus on vulnerable young people including at least those leaving care, those subject to the youth justice system, teenage mothers, those not in education, employment or education and young carers.

‘Effective delivery of the provision outlined is heavily interdependent and will require integrated planning in order to address the needs of the whole young person.’ (Beverley Hughes letter Dec 2006)

3.Partner Organisations and Services

3.1Universal provision of the Youth Offer (Things to do, places to go and people to talk to) and the promotion of participation activities for the benefit of others falls to a wide range of organisations. These include:

  • Youth Services,
  • Connexions,
  • FE Colleges,
  • Schools,
  • Youth Offending Team
  • Leisure Services,
  • Cultural Services
  • Voluntary organisations.
  • B&P Primary Care Trust

3.2More targeted services, focusing on those most vulnerable young people include:

  • Leaving Care Service,
  • Teenage Pregnancy Service,
  • The Education Welfare Service,
  • CAMHS Service,
  • Housing Services,
  • Youth Offending Team
  • Young Carers Service
  • Connexions
  • Youth Service
  • YADAS.

4.Strategies to be Drawn Together in the Youth Framework

  • The Youth Offer
  • Care Matters
  • Mental Health and Well-being
  • Teenage Pregnancy
  • Drug and Alcohol Strategy
  • Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy
  • Healthy Schools
  • Support for Asylum Seekers
  • Support for Young Carers
  • The Participation Strategy
  • 14-19 strategy/ NEET Strategy
  • Careers Education and Guidance
  • Inclusion Strategy

5.The Principles Underpinning the Shape of the New Service

5.1At a meeting on Friday 17th November, officers from a range of services identified the core principles to guide the shape and delivery of the service. Subsequently, the Children’s Services Board added more:

Customer Focus

Young person at centre

Access at different levels

No wrong door

Rights to expect clear standards of engagement across all services

Localness – local pathways to services

Impartial response

Consistency

Common purpose across all services:

aligned outcomes

shared care pathways

shared risk management

shared standards of service

shared practice

Empowerment of Young People

Enable young people to be heard:

shaping their town
shaping their services

as individuals in accessing the right service for them

Flexibility

Empowered front line workers with effective back-up

Co-ordinated with family support strategies

Local variation to meet need within Poole

Individual variation

Inclusion

Reaching out to most vulnerable with targeted services

Able to respond to emerging needs, especially in relation to equalities

Non-discriminatory, especially in relation to young people with disabilities

Preventative

Seek out the vulnerable

Focus on greatest need

Co-ordination with other family support programmes

6.Vision

6.1These principles point us towards a vision for young people which places them at the centre and is focused on empowering them to shape their own services and their town. Such a vision might be as follows:

“Young People in Poole flourish and succeed through active participation in the life of the town, valued and supported by co-ordinated, accessible and flexible services providing time and resources to enable young people to shape their own future and that of their communities.”

7.New Ways of Working (C&YP Plan Chapter 7)

7.1The Children and Young People’s Plan identifies key elements of our approach to the integration of children and young people’s services. We aim to develop:

  • Integrated service teams working at a local level under single management;
  • Easy access to services in local places
  • Improved targeting of services by commissioning provision to meet identified needs;
  • Participation of service users in planning, commissioning and evaluating services
  • Improved prevention of difficulties through effective joint strategy.

7.2The project teams will devise proposals that meet these aims.

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