30 youth workers gather information from over 300 young people
| Provider | Training and Development Agency |
|---|---|
| Topics | Youth Matters |
| Type | Emerging practice |
| Date | June 2006 |
| Region | Not Applicable |
In this authority, a large number of young people were engaged in workshops run by experienced youth workers. They knew the best methods of engaging young people.
The scope of the pathfinder was extremely wide, covering the whole borough. The authority had previously held a number of consultations with young people and their families for example young people's parliament, a MORI poll, consultation commissioned by the local area agreement, but there was little improvement in services for young people.
The challenge was to engage with a wide range of young people, including those with complex and overlapping needs as well as those receiving targeted support services. There was a fear youth workers would think that young people had been over consulted and it would be difficult to manage their expectations.
The targeted youth support project manager had a good local network (he was head of the youth service for a number of years) and was well respected within the relatively small borough. He set up a choice of two young people's engagement briefing sessions and invited a wide range of youth workers.
Approximately 30 workers attended both of the two hour briefings. The way each worker was to engage with their group of young people was left to them, as they had the experience and knew what was most likely to elicit genuine responses. The information required from the young people was clearly explained.
Comment
Three hundred and twenty-seven young people attended the engagement workshops.
Much of this success was due to the project manager and his open and honest
approach to discussions at the briefing sessions. He allowed all the young
people's workers to express opinions, concerns and questions and led a
group discussion.
Further information
Relevant activities for this case study include engaging young people,
which is part of the activities in the Discover stage.
Click for further case studies relevant to the Discover stage of the targeted youth support change process.
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