SCRUTINYPANEL PAPER

26th November 2009

YOUTH CONNEXIONS HERTFORDSHIRE - DELIVERY RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND FUNCTIONS

This paper provides the panel with an outline of YCH delivery and support staff establishment broken down by qualification status, role and function, and delivery style. It includes staff who are directly employed by Hertfordshire County Council and staff commissioned to deliver elements of the service but who are based in other organisations.

DELIVERY STAFF

1.1 DISTRICT MANAGER ROLE

YCH is structured to align with the 10 districts; 10 District Managers are responsible for the delivery of the Youth Connexions strategy and delivery plan in their respective areas, co-ordinating a multi disciplinary team responding to local needs. Each DM manages the direct delivery staff and works closely with contracted out providers to provide a coordinated service. DMs also have cross Area or County responsibilities for staff and or a strategy theme. The DM’s have a key role in developing and leading work with partners. They represent YCH with Elected Members, District and Borough Officers, schools and partner organisations including the DCTP of which they Chair the 11-19 Sub Group, Community Safety Groups and the MAST.

1.2 YOUTH WORK

Youth Work in Hertfordshire is delivered in a wide variety of ways to accommodate the diversity and needs of young people.Young people become involved through voluntary engagement, i.e. they choose to be there. Most youth work is delivered as group work because experience has shown the benefits of young people learning through sharing with and understanding their peers. The type of activity undertaken ranges from outdoor sporting activities that encourage risk-taking within a safe environment to creative arts that encourage self-expression. Further examples are young people being invited to volunteer to do work within their community, or to attend an issues-based course such as alcohol awareness training. Youth work takes place predominantly in the evenings and weekends.

Youth work is delivered in a range of styles, all through a curriculum programme that is expected to deliver both recorded and accredited outcomes for young people through informal education:

Centre Based:Delivers within purpose built or community based centres

Detached work:Works with young people where they are located, e.g. street work/ parks etc.

Outreach work:Recruits young people to bring them into an existing project or centre.

Project work:Works with specific groups often disadvantaged or disaffected young people, this includes holiday programmes

Targeted work:Focuses on those who have specific needs

YOUTH WORK DELIVERY STAFF - PROFESSIONAL RANGE WORKERS (PRW)

YCH employs 44 full-time Professional Range Workers or PRWs; professionally qualified Youth Workers or workers in training. Each district has a core team of 3 PRWs all of whom have different ‘lead responsibilities’ e.g. for various projects and centres and who are responsible for planning, managing and delivering youth work projects during the week, at weekends and throughout holidays.

Each District Team carries out an annual evaluation and planning process. Young people in each district are consultedon activities they would like to be involved with and where. This information is then assessed in relation to the YCH plan, CYPP and CSF plan. Youth work teams, lead by the PRW, then develop a programme of activities which are promotedlocally and on

There are a number of PRW’s employed with a cross district role. These staff deliver specific activity such as outdoor education using YCH facilities or those found in the community. Other staff have leads on developing work with specific groups such as Members of the Youth Parliament or young women with children; or have a role enhancing the delivery of specific projects such as the network of weekend music events. YCH also holds the Operating Licence for the DofE (Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) in Hertfordshire supporting both work in schools and through its own delivery.

In addition Youth Connexions hosts staff who primarily work using youth work styles funded through external sources, these include additional staff at Herts Young Mariners Base, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Workers, a Drug Education Worker and Make it Happen in Sport.

YOUTH support WORKERS

Each PRW manages between 3 and 7 Youth Support Workers (YSW), based on the size of the District, the number of projects and the hours that staff work. All YSWs are part-time, working between 6 and 20 hrs per week including weekends.

1.3 PERSONAL ADVISERS

145.3 FTE professionally qualified Personal Advisers provide a wide range of support for young people between 13-19 years old (25 with learning difficulties or disabilities or who have been looked after) to enable them to remain in or return to learning or work, motivating them to achieve their goals and working with other agencies to remove barriers to young people’s participation in learning or work. They provide information, advice and guidance and targeted support, drawing on multi-agency teams and acting as lead professionals where necessary. They provide impartial,confidential support on a one-to-one basis or in groups. The duties of Personal Adviser include:

  • working with young people to establish their needs and offer information, advice, support and guidance where necessary
  • helping young people face challenges that may affect their capacity to take part in learning and work opportunities or prevent them from reaching their potential
  • working with and supporting schools, colleges, training institutions and employers in designing a range of local courses that will meet the needs of young people
  • working with voluntary, statutory and community agencies and commercial organisations to ensure a co-ordinated approach to overcoming the barriers to learning and employment faced by young people
  • working with parents, carers and families to support young people
  • managing information effectively to facilitate the process of meeting the needs of young people
  • reviewing and reflecting upon their professional practice to achieve continuous improvement in performance.
  • Some PAs work exclusively with the most vulnerable groups of young people: CLA, young offenders, particular BME groups and young people with LDD.

PA work in learning settings includes:

  • Mainstream and special schools
  • Education Support Centres/Key Stage 4 centres
  • Further Education Colleges
  • Training Providers
  • One Stop Shops
  • Other community locations

Around50% of PAs time is allocated to schools, and ESC/KS4Cs. This distribution was agreed with schools and is based on:

  • Total number of pupils – to recognise the increased IAG demands of the more complex curriculum entitlement
  • Schools achieving less than 60% A*-C including English and Maths at GCSE
  • Numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals
  • NEET outcomes over the past three years

PA work in the community

Around 50% of PAs time is spent working with young people who are not in education, employment, or training. This work is carried out in a range of different settings from YCH One Stop Shops and other YCH centres to homeless hostels and in young people’s homes. They assess young people’s needs and work with them to identify appropriate learning or work opportunities and help them overcome obstacles to accessing these. (For example working closely with Herts Young Homeless Group and district council partners to access independent accommodation when they have become homeless).

1.4 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADVISERS

A team of 10 FTE ETAs work with young people 16 – 18yrs old who are looking for work, providing them with support for CV writing, job applications and interview techniques.

1.5 ONE STOP SHOP PROJECT MANAGERS

Coordinate the work of YCH staff and other agencies operating from OSS ensuring that ‘there is no wrong door’ for young people who visit us.

1.6 ‘KEEP IN TOUCH’ TRACKERS

7 phone-based trackers ensure that all 16-18yr olds’ participation or employment status is accurate, referring to employment and learning opportunities or further support where necessary.

1.7 VOLUNTEER MENTORS

Around 60 trained mentors provide one to one support for young people to address specific issues such as self-confidence, lifestyle problems.

CENTRALLY-BASED STAFF

PLANNING, POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

These teams support delivery work and include:

Planning and Performance Improvement Team

A team of three works and a small management information unitgeneratesa wide and detailed range of data to ensure that targets are monitored and met and to inform planning across the service. Policies and procedures are developed to support safe and effective delivery for YCH and the team also produces data for HCTP partners to inform the Children and Young People’s Plan.

Development Team

A centrally based team develops funding bids to build YCH capacity to meet young people’s needs and manage initiatives arising from successful bids. These include v-talent (20 young people on 1yr volunteering contracts) and Future 565 (PRG funded initiative to increase work and apprenticeship opportunities for young people who are ‘NEET’).

Communication, Information and Participation Teams

A central communications and participation team of 3 supports district delivery. They manage the two Children’s Trust young people’s websites, Channelmogo and Mogozout, and a staff site which keeps staff up to date with new national and local initiatives, processes, procedures and other relevant information. This team also producesand distributes newsletters and information for staff, young people, their parents/carers, and partners, fully involving young people in the design, delivery and evaluation of services. The team organises participation activities, events and online questionnaires to gather young people’s views on how effectively young people’s services across the Children’s Trust meet their needs. Young people are fully involved in the evaluation and redesign of services accordingly.