Targeted Youth Support - Joined Up Services for Young People

Building on its work on the multi-agency element of the extended schools programme, Consulting Strategies is working with government offices and local authorities to deliver ‘Targeted Youth Support’ reforms to ensure multiple agency services are joined up to support the most vulnerable young people and their families.

“If you are serious about improving children’s achievements, particularly children with difficulties, you have to look outside the classroom at what these children are facing in the rest of their lives, in their families and in the community.” Caroline Coles, National Programme Adviser, Consulting Strategies.

Targeted Youth Support brings local services together and helps them to develop a common way of identifying, assessing the needs of, and intervening to help, vulnerable young people early on. The target is to prevent and turnaround negative outcomes such as homelessness, substance misuse, teenage pregnancy, youth offending/antisocial behaviour and dropping out of education, employment or training.

In January 2006, 14 children's trusts took part in a Targeted Youth Support pathfinder. The pathfinders worked through a change process, which gave them the method and tools to redesign services and delivery models in order to improve outcomes for vulnerable young people. Following success a national support programme was commissioned to the remaining 136 English local authorities.