Series of nine papers taken from a research Ph.D. They are focused on data about the maintained Youth Service in Wales, collected and analysed from 2002 to 2007 when the Youth Service was first being directed by the Welsh Government policy ‘Extending Entitlement’.  These are being published in 2017 as there are issues which need to be considered due to the reinvigorated political interest in Extending Entitlement. These papers are intended to be a reminder that the translation of Extending Entitlement policy into practice was not a positive experience for the Youth Service in Wales and that there are inherent dangers that a refreshed Extending Entitlement will have just as many negative connotations unless we learn from, and respond to, the lessons from the past. The papers are: 

Extending Entitlement Revisited:

• Paper 1: Setting the scene
• Paper 2: How was the evidence found and analysed?
• Paper 3: The needs of young people and the Maintained Youth Service response
• Paper 4: What did politicians want from the Maintained Youth Service?
• Paper 5: How Knowledgeable were those working in the Maintained Youth Service of its discrete identity during the time of the Extending Entitlement launch?
• Paper 6: Did the Maintained Youth Service have the tools to meet the priorities of Extending Entitlement?
• Paper 7: What was happening in the Maintained Youth Service at the time of Extending Entitlement?
• Paper 8:  What did the Maintained Youth Service do after Extending Entitlement and how was this measured?
• Paper 9:  Findings and recommendations

Paper 1 

The study was carried out at a time when the maintained Youth Service in Wales had become drawn into a political agenda created by the election of New Labour in 1997 and the subsequent setting up of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. As a consequence of the particular circumstances caused by these two events there was an imperative for the maintained Youth Service to make a rapid transition from its historically marginalised position to one more central within the new young-people agenda. This investigation was concerned to determine if the maintained Youth Service was prepared and able to attain a new and strengthened position that made it secure in the long-term by adopting a strategic approach that promoted its 'young people first' approach and maximised the opportunities presented to it by increased political attention and potential new resources. 

The focus of the investigation, which relied on data collected and analysed between early 2002 and 2007, was to establish if the maintained Youth Service in Wales was concurrently able to meet the needs of young people and the requirements of relevant Government Policy while maintaining its discrete identity as described within its purposes[1] and values[2] statements.

[1] To provide equality of opportunity for all young people in order that they may fulfil their potential as empowered individuals and as members of groups and communities – To support young people in the transition to adulthood – To assist young people to develop attitudes and skills which enable them to make purposeful use of their personal resources and time

[2] Which recognize: social education as the core process in youth and community work; the ability and inability of people to resolve problems and change themselves; the tension and distinction between empowering and controlling people; the rights to self determination; the importance of collective action and collaborative working relationships; and the value of co-operation and conflict