ABSTRACT
Young people under the age of 25 years have the greatest disadvantage in the UK labour market (George et al., 2015) and thus local authorities have set up Early Intervention and Prevention Services focussing on providing ‘hard-to-reach’ young people with suitable tools to succeed in life. These young people include those from deprived socio-economic backgrounds, with poor or no role models to whom to aspire, those with undiagnosed mental health issues and/or learning difficulties, those who may be affiliated with gangs, drugs and at times have regular police contact. At the other end of the spectrum are young people who are highly academic and the pressure they place on themselves to be ‘perfect’ has, on countless occasions, resulted in various forms of self-harm.
In London, government cuts over the last eight years have hit young people hard. As a result, councils have slashed more than £22m from youth services since 2011, closing 30 youth centres, with at least 12,700 places for young people lost. Currently youth and family services are delivered by either commissioned or local authority services, with the budget for Targeted Youth Work being reduced by £1.7 million (2015–2017).
On a positive note, a recent announcement by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on 13 February 2018, reported a brand new £45 million fund to help young Londoners, particularly those who are at risk of getting caught up in crime.
Youth work is complex and subject to financial governance. As many young people have multiple and numerous issues affecting their welfare, I describe two real-life case studies in Chapter 5 that show the detail and complexities of this work. These young people may be at risk of being failed by the system in the future if they do not receive the correct level of support.
