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Principles and Practice for the delivery of youth work in the context of Bridging Projects
Background
Bridging Projects were set up in Devizes, Malmesbury, Salisbury and Warminster Youth Development Centres as a result of collaboration between The Equal Access Service at ASK and the Youth Development Service. The Bridging Projects were each initiated with £5,000 funding from Wiltshire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, obtained through The Equal Access Service at ASK. This funding was to pay for the costs of youth workers salaries, materials and other start-up costs.
Purpose
Bridging Projects make specialist youth work provision for young people with disabilities or special needs which mean they are unable to cope with an ‘open youth work’ environment at this point in time. The projects work to the same principles and values as all Youth Development Service delivery, follow the same curriculum with the purpose of enabling young people’s learning and development between the ages of 13-19 years.
Making Contact with Young People
Principle
- Youth people should engage in Bridging Projects voluntarily, with appropriate support for their personal, social and physical well-being.
Practice
Bridging Projects are promoted to young people through the special schools, social workers, The Equal Access Service at ASK and other agencies working with disabled young people and their families. Young people are also referred by these services. When a young person has expressed interest in attending a Bridging Project, or been referred, then the Youth Development Co-ordinator or a delegated assistant youth worker arranges a meeting with the young person and a parent or carer, either at their home or the Youth Development Centre. This meeting is to identify the young persons’ needs and interests, to answer questions the parent, young person or youth worker may have and to explain the purpose of youth work.
For young people who are uncertain or nervous about attending a Bridging Project because of the challenges that ‘new experiences’ bring, then this meeting is important in enabling the young person to gain sufficient reassurance that they are willing to try attending with appropriate support.
This meeting may also be an appropriate time for the parent or carer, with the young person, to advise the youth worker to complete the assessment form identifying their needs, interests, any significant behavioural issues, any relevant medical issues, dietary requirements etc. in order to ensure that they are appropriately supported within the youth work context.
Youth Work Delivery: enabling young people’s learning and development
Principle
- Bridging Projects are concerned with making the youth work curriculum accessible to disabled young people and their peers.
- Disabled and non-disabled young people can learn and develop from each other, together.
Practice
- A youth work environment is created which has a high level of safety and security for disabled young people. Non-disabled peers are engaged in the Projects to participate in shared activities, offer support and build friendships with the disabled young people. In this way a ‘youth club’ environment is developed, within which all young people can learn, develop friendships and practice social skills.
- Non-disabled peers should be offered opportunities to increase their awareness of equity as it affects disabled young people, to understand the needs of the disabled young people and to gain communication and other skills which may enable them to more effectively engage with the disabled young people. Time and resources will be identified by the Bridging Projects management group, to provide opportunities which target the non-disabled young people who participate in the Bridging Projects. These opportunities would focus on enabling them to develop skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to their befriending role with peers in the Bridging Projects.
- Bridging Projects engage all young people in planned programmes, as identified by the Wiltshire Youth Development Service curriculum. Youth work programmes are responsive to the needs and interests of the young people; best practice involves young people in the planning, organising and evaluation of the programmes.
- Youth work practice is concerned with enabling all young people to recognise their strengths and weaknesses, to set themselves challenging targets, to recognise and celebrate their achievements. The Steps Model of development should be used by youth workers, with young people, as a tool to measure their progression. Outcomes of youth work should be recorded for each young person.
- The Youth Development Service provides a range of opportunities for celebrating young people’s achievements. These include an annual presentation of awards, usually held in the Council Chamber, regular presentations of certificates within Youth Development Centres, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award presentations and displays of young people’s creative work and other achievements. Disabled young people must be enabled to recognise their achievements and engage in celebrations with their peers.
- Accreditation is one ‘formal’ way of recognising young people’s achievements. The Youth Development Service Curriculum document identifies the key programmes of accreditation available within the Youth Development Service, these include: Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, The Youth Arts Award, Getting Connected, Junior Sports Leaders Award, Millennium Volunteer Awards and the Wiltshire Award. The Wiltshire Award is based the individual progression of the individual and thus is most readily accessible to all young people. The Wiltshire Award must be used within Bridging Projects to offer all young people a means of accreditation; other forms of accreditation must also be available to young people.
- Disabled young people who are attending a Bridging Project will be encouraged to participate with appropriate support, in wider youth work opportunities which are relevant to their needs, interests and development. These will include small group projects organised as part of the Youth Development Centre programme, visits to theatre, cinema or other venues and holiday projects.
- There is an expectation that young people’s progression through the experience of participating in a Bridging Project can lead to them feeling sufficiently confident to be safely engaged with support, in an appropriate ‘open youth work’ context.
Staffing
Principle
- The level of staffing available will be a key factor in determining the number of young people who can be engaged in the project based on a risk assessment.
- Supervision and appraisal processes will be used to identify the specific development needs of individual staff engaged in Bridging Projects.
- Risk assessment will be used to assess the specific competencies required within the staff team, to work with the identified group of young people in the specified environment.
- There must be staff working within Bridging Projects who understand and are responsible for, the personal care needs of the disabled young people, including the skills and resources to communicate with the young people.
Practice
- Risk assessment will be undertaken to ensure a safe and secure environment appropriate to the needs of the young people attending a Bridging Project; this will determine the number of young people who can attend the Project at any time.
- Risk assessment will include making judgements about the level and kind of support required by individual disabled young people to ensure their safe engagement, this will also have implications for the competencies required within the staff team and may therefore identify training needs.
- Risk assessments will take into account the level of caring interaction which the non-disabled peers will provide and the level of youth worker support and guidance which these young people will need. Bridging Projects can be expected to require a higher staffing ratio than would be provided for ‘open youth work’, usually working with a group of 8-15 disabled young people, with peers.
- All Youth Development Service staff, paid and unpaid, are expected to engage in regular supervision and annual appraisal to direct their work and identify their development needs.
- Job descriptions/person specifications for youth workers who are to work in Bridging Projects must specify that their role includes the personal care needs of the disabled young people.
- Youth Development Service staff working within Bridging Projects must understand the personal care and any medical needs associated with the care of each individual young person, which could be relevant within the context of the Bridging Project or other youth work activity.
Buildings and Resources
Principles
- That disabled young people must be enabled to access a broad and diverse youth work curriculum, responsive to their needs. That this can be accessed alongside peers in premises and with resources which are as fully accessible to all young people as reasonably possible.
Practice
- That funding opportunities be actively sought through County Council budgets to increase accessibility to Youth Development Centres for all young people.
- That the Bridging Projects management group seek to identify appropriate equipment and resource materials to facilitate the delivery of a challenging and exciting youth work curriculum to disabled young people.
- That all Bridging Projects have information about specialist equipment for disabled young people which they could buy or hire from suppliers. Also of equipment which is available for sharing within the county.
- That the Bridging Projects management group seek to access external funding for the purchase of a supply of ‘specialist equipment’ to support the delivery of the youth work curriculum within Bridging Projects and in other contexts with disabled young people. This equipment would be for sharing, thus avoiding multiple purchases of ‘high cost’ equipment which might have infrequent use and could be efficiently used across the Service.
Budgets and Funding
Principles
- That there should be parity in relation to the funding by the Youth Development Service of Bridging Projects and other youth work provision.
Practice
- Trips/visits in which young people engage should be funded through the Centre held funds, grants from external sources and contributions from the young people/parents or carers as is regular Service practice.
- Resources/equipment are to be funded through centre-held funds, external grant applications, local fund-raising as is regular Service practice.
The Doc Couch Trust could provide some funding: funding applications to be submitted during April and May, for consideration in July. This could be an appropriate source of funding for equipment and materials to support this work; it is proposed that the Youth Development Co-ordinators with responsibility for managing Bridging Projects make a joint bid for shared resources, this being co-ordinated through the Bridging Project managing group.
- Transport that Youth Development Co-ordinators could provide advice to disabled young people and their parents or carers as to possible sources of support for accessing transport or transport costs to access provision. It is not possible for the Youth Development Service to make regular transport provision for young people to attend Bridging Projects.
- Staffing costs be set by an agreed formula for staffing Bridging Projects. It is proposed that this should be the Youth Development Co-ordinator and 4 assistant youth worker sessions.
- The Service should work towards these costs being fully met through W.C.C. budgets by 2006-07.
The Carers Grant funding which was accessed primarily to support Inclusion Work within open youth work sessions can be used to support Bridging Projects in the short term. The Carers Grant is not a source of long-term funding as it is negotiated annually.
Management
Principles
- That Bridging Projects are accountable to the Youth Development Service management team and are responsible for following the Wiltshire County Council policies and procedures.
- That Bridging Projects should offer a consistent and co-ordinated standard of youth work delivery and that these should be co-ordinated through a Bridging Project advisory group, facilitated by the senior manager, policy and curriculum.
- That the Bridging Project advisory group seek to maintain and develop joint work with those agencies who can provide professional advice and support in working with disabled young people and their carers.
Practice
- That the Bridging Projects advisory group should meet 4 times annually to address issues relevant to the development of the Bridging Projects and the delivery of high quality youth work within these projects. These issues will include: accessing external funding, the acquisition of resources for the development of the youth work curriculum with disabled young people, staff training needs, provision of opportunities for non-disabled young people to increase their understanding of the needs of disabled peers, sharing best practice.
- That the Bridging Projects advisory group and the senior manager, policy and curriculum will actively seek to develop links with other agencies responding to the needs of disabled young people in order to share skills and resources as appropriate.
- That all staff working within Bridging Projects are accountable to their line manager, usually this will be a Youth Development Co-ordinator, who in turn will receive management supervision through the senior manager, operations and staffing.
- All staff working within Bridging Projects must receive supervision and appraisal in accordance with W.C.C. Youth Development Service policies. Individual training needs should be identified through the appraisal process.
Appendix 1. Table to show expenditure of the £5,000 initial set-up grant accessed through ASK & 2004-05 funding.
|
Expenditure |
Malmesbury |
Warminster |
Salisbury |
Devizes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Start date |
Sept 04- March 05 |
Feb 2004 |
July 2003 |
May 2002 |
|
Expenditure pre April '04 |
1,958.00 |
Most of the £5,000 |
2002-03 £5,000 2003-04 £6,500 |
|
|
Staffing 2004-05 |
£2,415.00 |
3,484.00 |
6,240.00 WCC budget |
£10,900.00 |
|
Trips 2004-05 |
£420.00 |
Nil |
Nil |
Nil |
|
Resources 2004-05 |
£300.00 |
198.00 |
---- |
Nil |
|
Totals |
£3,135.00 |
5,640.00 |
£6,240.00 WCC budgets |
£10,900.00 |
Budget Requirements for 2005-06 based on 4 assistant youth workers to work with the Youth Development Co-ordinator
|
Malmesbury |
Warminster |
Salisbury |
Devizes |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Staffing |
£6,990 (4) |
£6,990 (4) |
£6,990 (4) |
£6,990 (4) |
|
Totals |
£6,990 |
£6,990 |
£6,990 |
£6,990 |
|
Cover 04/05 |
£1,865 |
Nil |
Nil |
Nil |
|
Additional funding required |
£5,125 |
£6,990 |
£6,990 |
£6,990 |
Contact Details
By Post
Youth Development Service
Operational Office
Estcourt Crescent
Devizes
SN10 1LR
By Email
youthdevelopmentservice@wiltshire.gov.uk
By Telephone
01380 735780
By Fax
01380 729634
