Targeted youth support: stage 2 - Discover

In this stage senior managers, operational staff and young people discover the detail of the current state of local targeted youth support (TYS) in the scope area chosen during the Mobilise stage. The views of young people and their families are particularly important to the success of the change process.

At the end of the Discover stage...

1. The TYS project team is assembling a body of evidence that describes the truth about today (a research-based analysis of the current situation) to present to the senior management group at the end of the Deepen stage of the process (Decision Point 2).

2. There is increased awareness of potential priorities and target benefits for senior managers, operational and frontline staff.

3. The project team and key agencies know and understand the views of senior managers, frontline workers, young people, their families and local communities.

4. Representatives of all agencies involved in the project scope are engaged in the change process.

5. Data and opinions have been collected in many different ways.

6. Participants in the change process have broadened their understanding of what is not working well and what is working well.

7. The local authority has greater awareness of how other initiatives including the Common Assessment Framework and the lead professional improve the experience of services for young people.

Click for further details of these achievements including self-assessment criteria. Each achievement must be fully accomplished before moving onto the next stage of the change process.

Click to read about activities that will help you to deliver these achievements.

Rationale

To ensure the truth about today begins to be uncovered and understood, the views of senior staff should be balanced with the views of frontline practitioners, young people, their parents and members of the local community.

To identify both the knowledge you already have, and any gaps, you may need to re-examine existing:

• Needs assessments
  
  
• Service provision information
  
  
• Public service agreement (PSA) measures
  
  
• Joint area review (JAR) and annual performance assessment (APA) recommendations
  
  
• Survey results you have collated

This re-examination will help you avoid replicating what has already been done. However, given that a key strength of the TYS process is that it generates extensive buy-in from all stakeholder groups at all levels, any existing sources of data should be recent and should meet the following principles:

• Gathered alongside material from practitioners who feel that their views have been fully heard and will be acted upon
  
  
• Data from children and young people is fully representative of targeted youth clients, especially the hard to reach
  
  
• Cuts across all relevant agencies, from senior management to practitioner
  
  
• Meets standards accepted by the local authority's analytical services team

If existing sources of data do not meet these principles, then you should supplement them with the TYS process as described in this toolkit.

The process has hugely increased the engagement of the workforce in the agenda. In the past, discussions around this would be in silos. As a result of the process they are now integrated.

Alan Dinning, Deputy Director Integrated Children's Services, Hertfordshire

During this stage agencies often identify potential quick wins - straightforward and effective changes that can be implemented immediately. Quick wins help build momentum and commitment to the change process because stakeholders can see that the process has an impact on their work and on outcomes for young people. As quick wins are often implemented before the root causes of problems are uncovered during the Deepen stage, they can require adjustment in the long term.

At this stage in the process, it may emerge that the challenges of the change process are greater than they first appeared. It is normal and expected for people to feel daunted by this. This is the downward part of the emotional change curve. This feeling often continues into the next stage of the process.

Next stage

The next stage in the process, Deepen, is where TYS teams test findings from the Discover stage in greater detail and acquire deeper understanding of the scale of the changes they need to make to achieve their aims.

Click to move on to Deepen or to read about the activities for the Discover stage.

Further resources

Targeted Youth Support - Overview of Activities and Achievements

Targeted Youth Support - Personal View Case Studies

Targeted Youth Support - Discover Process Case Studies