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Targeted youth support toolkit

Targeted youth support: leaflets (May 2008)
A series of leaflets detailing what targeted youth support is and how its effective implementation can help practitioners achieve other related targets and priorities.

Targeted youth support: A guide (April 2007)
An introduction to targeted youth support and how it fits within the wider Every Child Matters agenda.

The pathfinders' experience video (TDA website) 
In this 10-minute online video, staff from the targeted youth support pathfinders describe their experiences.

This toolkit sets out a flexible change process to help partners in local authority children's trusts build on their existing work and redesign their targeted youth support (TYS) provision. Developing TYS and establising it as a core part of local authorities' mainstream strategy for young people is a key aim of Youth Matters (see below).

The toolkit is aimed at TYS project managers, senior managers and all stakeholders committed to improving TYS in their local area. It facilitates multi-agency working and helps TYS teams investigate current service provision and develop long-term sustainable improvements tailored to local need.

The change process has been informed, tested and validated by 14 local authorities participating in a one-year TYS pathfinder.

This website is a great resource for authorities implementing targeted youth support - whether they are new coming into the system or some way down the line in developing integrated services. The policy background is clearly explained, it is easy to navigate and has some excellent case studies on different issues from authorities at different stages in the process. It has the ability to provide online shared learning across authorities and I have strongly recommended that all our team make ongoing use of it.

John Harris, Director of Children's Services, Hertfordshire

Click for the overview of the change process or use the following links to go to the five stages. The activities and tools that support each stage can be used in isolation, but the change process is far more powerful when followed sequentially.

  1. Mobilise

  2. Discover

  3. Deepen

  4. Develop

  5. Deliver

To ensure young people get the support they need, the green paper Youth Matters set out a vision that, by April 2008, every young person at risk of not achieving the five Every Child Matters outcomes should be able to access the following TYS from their local children's trust:

  • A single point of contact to support and challenge - a lead professional

  • A support package that draws on mainstream and specialist services of sufficient quality and quantity

  • A single route of referral to extra support from different agencies as soon as risks emerge

  • Help to access support earlier on

  • Support to live in a stronger family environment

Improved outcomes for young people are assessed by annual performance assessments and joint area review inspection frameworks, all of which are reflected in national PSA targets and embedded in local area agreements and children and young people's plans.

Click for more on the following: 

  • Benefits of the TYS change process
    The practical benefits of the TYS change process and how the process helps you deliver the Youth Matters agenda.

  • Targeted Youth Support - A Guide
    An introduction to TYS and how it fits within the wider Every Child Matters agenda.

  • Targeted youth support pathfinder
    Describes the pathfinder project and provides the scopes chosen by the 14 pathfinders as well as critical questions they have identified.

  • Case studies
    Supporting case studies, which include both pathfinders' experiences of the change process and general good practice for targeted youth support.

  • Additional resources
    A range of further resources, prompted by the pathfinder project, relevant to the redesign and implementation of TYS.

  • Shortcut to activities and tools
    Lists all the activities and tools used during the TYS change process, including an explanation of each. Use this link once you have read the TYS change process pages: Mobilise, Discover, Deepen, Develop, Deliver.

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This page was last updated on 06 June 2008

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