Summary of findings from 10 local authority Youth Services for 2000-2001, covering:

1. Details of Youth Service – location within LA / basic details
2. Youth population / spending per head / expenditure
3. Type of youth provision
4. Funding sources
5. Staffing levels
6. Staff development and training

The National Academy for Educational Leadership (The Leadership Academy) commissioned a Think Piece to explore the
joint roles and responsibilities of Youth Work and School Leaders (YWaSL) in delivering the Curriculum for Wales (CfW).
The piece also focuses on increasing YWaSL’s knowledge and understanding of each other’s professions, highlighting how
combining formal, non-formal, and informal educational approaches can improve outcomes for young people. Additionally,
it includes making recommendations for educational leaders and policymakers on using a systems leadership approach to
support the implementation of the New Curriculum for Wales. The study had three stages: a Rapid Evidence Assessment
(REA) of literature on educational leaders’ roles in curriculum implementation, focus groups with Youth Work and School
Leaders (YWaSL) and young people to gather perspectives, and final verification focus groups for the recommendations.

This paper provides an overview of policy at UK, national and local level, determining how services to young people in Wales will be developed and delivered. This does not intend to examine government policy in any depth. Rather, it intends to provide a broad overview as a means of providing a foundation for further investigation.

MA thesis, Working for children and young people (Youth Work Initial Qualifying) degree.

This study explores the multifaceted role of youth work in aiding the settlement and integration of young Afghan immigrants in the UK.
Drawing on youth work values and principles, relevant strategy and policy, and National Occupational Standards for Youth Work, this research investigates the alignment of youth work with the objectives of facilitating Afghan immigrants' settlement and integration.

By thoroughly exploring the experiences of young Afghan immigrants within the context of youth work, this study aims to identify the specific obstacles they face in the UK and offer insights for practitioners, policymakers, and institutions in order to support them.

MA Dissertation.

In November 2018 Caerphilly Youth Service introduced a pilot scheme with the purpose of providing a universal model of youth work delivery to increase participation of young people, recognised as requiring support, in a cluster area registered as the Caerphilly East. This dissertation evaluates this scheme, asking should it now become the adopted model of delivery. Through extensive examination of relevant literature and empirical research, involving a mixed method approach where young people and youth workers completed questionnaires and participated  in interviews, two main themes were identified,  ‘Building Blocks’ (pre-requisites for young people to thrive) and ‘Scaffolding’ (what is needed to hold up the services for young people).

Relationships, support and activities were recognised as working well, however the cluster size and availability of regular outdoor activities were found to not work so well. Improvements are required to the communication of information, number of sessions on offer and the participation levels of young people involved. Participants supported this scheme becoming the adopted model, although the researcher learned that the size of the cluster area requires a significant reduction and that young people and youth workers would benefit from being involved in cluster meetings.

Youth work offers personal and social development, informal education
activities, agency and decision-making for young people. Alongside more
traditional forms of open access and centre-based youth work, the informal
education approach of youth workers is a growing resource being utilised by
schools. This seems an obvious synergy with schools supporting the entire
cohorts of young people that youth work aims to reach. Recent research has
demonstrated the positive impacts of youth workers in schools on attendance
and behaviour. Within the HE sector, an increasing number of youth work
graduates are being employed by formal education institutions and alternative
education organisations. However, as this review of evidence from across four
UK countries will show, there is not one uniform way in which youth workers
become an integral part of everyday schools life. This policy briefing shares
evidence of a range of good practices for implementing youth work in schools,
alongside research conducted by our Universities, within this area. Together
we show that this implementation varies depending upon the positioning of
youth work within national-level policy.