1 in 4 children in the UK live in poverty, estimated to rise in cost to £40billion a year by 2027. Youth unemployment rates in the United Kingdom are almost triple that of adults (12.1% vs. 4.2%), particularly impacting the employability of young people with complex needs, of whom 61.8% are unemployed. The Care Act and best practice guidance provides for young people to work with a ‘named worker’, and for this to be ‘developmentally appropriate’. Youth services have been cut by 73% since 2010, with third sector organization often filling a crucial gap in prevention work and care coordination. System-wide and multi-agency responses to complex needs housing/homelessness, substance use, criminal justice, mental health, and domestic abuse) are needed for youth transition space, which lie at the core of the work of Changing Futures Plymouth.
This project funds a worker for nine months to co-authoring an academic paper which will include detailed joint analysis of 3 case studies; and 6 live pilot cases; with possibly further data collection and analysis from staff and service users. This is intended to support the decision making of the Plymouth teams. Further testing and piloting of the multi-agency trusted professional model; including logic model development and further journey and impact mapping over the whole period will be undertaken and additionally the HDRC will use this project as a test bed for supporting people into higher education, one of the HDRC objectives.
Contact: Felix Gradinger [email protected]
Working with: Plymouth City Council, The Zone, Changing Futures and Livewell CIC.