News
eYPU Issue 293, 10 March 2010
10 March 2010
Safeguarding
The DCSF has published its response to a final report and recommendations paper from the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Advisory Group. The recommendations, accepted in full by the Government today, include:
- teachers to be given clear advice on how to deal with suspected cases of violence against women and girls in their schools and referring young girls at risk to support services
- all schools to receive guidance to help prevent and respond to violence against women and girls
- all young people to be taught about gender equality and VAWG in PSHE as part of the national curriculum
- all parents and carers to have access to support and advice to help them discuss violence against women and girls with their children, and to signpost parents of girls experiencing violence to further advice and support.
The DCSF has issued Neglect Matters, a guidance for children‘s professionals to better support young people at risk of neglect. According to the guide, neglect of teenagers often does not receive the same attention as cases involving younger children. A focus of the guide is on preventing neglect. Advice offered includes ensuring all children's professionals are aware of signs such as lack of parental control or knowledge about their child's whereabouts.
The DCSF have published Staying Safe Survey 2009: Young people and parents’ attitudes around accidents, bullying and safety. The survey is part of the government’s Stay Safe outcome from the Every Child Matters framework and the 2008 Byron Review, which recommended an education and awareness campaign for parents and children. The main aim of this research is to measure and track parents’ and children’s awareness, attitudes and reported behaviour across the various safety issues.
A report commissioned by the Local Government Association and conducted by Loughborough University warns that child protection reforms risk weakening the safety net. An increase in rules and targets, that are supposed to improve child protection, is instead overloading stretched social work teams and risks weakening the safety net which keeps children safe from harm. The study into Lord Laming’s report, The protection of children in England: a progress report, has proposed a five point plan to ensure social work reforms result in the best possible protection of vulnerable children.
Social exclusion
A Unicef report has found that migrant children who arrive in England without parents or relatives are met with racism and a culture of disbelief that is exacerbating their mental trauma. Levelling the Playing Field claims that some of the most vulnerable children are ‘disappearing’ once they get here; the report further claims that many end up in the hands of traffickers or abusers. Three councils that took part in the survey, Kent, Solihull and Harrow, reported losing contact with children in their care and had concerns that there could be thousands more ‘out there’ in their areas, at risk of exploitation but invisible to professionals.
The Commission for Rural Communities says more needs to be done to help young people stay in rural areas. Rural Advocate Report 2010 focuses on issues affecting children and young people living and working in rural England. The lack of mobile phone reception and broadband coverage in rural areas has become the key issue in dissuading young people from staying on in the countryside. The report also found that the end of June 2009, 40 per cent of 16 – 24-year-olds in rural areas were unemployed or economically inactive.
Crime
The National Audit Office has published Managing offenders short custodial sentences. The report that claims more could be done to rehabilitate prisoners (including young offenders) serving short sentences and reduce their risk of re-offending. The report says so little is done to tackle their re-offending rates that more than half spend almost all day in their cells because they have no work or education courses. It says that re-offending by those serving short sentences costs the taxpayer up to £10 billion a year.
Positive activities
Sport England has announced a £10 million National Lottery funding round, Active Universities, aimed at getting more university students playing sport. The funding comes after claims that just under three in 10 university students currently play sport regularly. Active Universities is a drive to get 100,000 more students participating at least three times a week by creating accessible sporting opportunities for those who would like to do more sport.
Health
The charity Drugscope has published Young People's Drug and Alcohol Treatment at the Crossroads. The report suggests that the drug and alcohol treatment systems need to be more flexible in order to effectively meet the needs of young people and young adults developing substance misuse problems.
Children and Young People’s Services
The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) in Children and Young People’s Services is urging local areas to share examples of effective practice in improving the outcomes concerning young people. Validated examples will contribute to a growing bank of evidence designed to help equip those working in the sector with knowledge and evidence about ‘what works’. Examples are being sought which demonstrate improved outcomes for young people by:
- Increasing the engagement of young people in positive activities
- Spreading and deepening the impact of targeted youth support
- Reducing alcohol consumption by young people and so improving their health, safety and well-being.
For more information about this, please visit the C4EO website: www.c4eo.org.uk
Communities
The Department of Communities and Local Government has published Evaluation of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, the final evaluation report on The New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme. The evaluation shows that the programme has helped bring about significant improvements for some of England's most deprived neighbourhoods.
Events/Training
YouthBank UK is running a Supporting Youth Opportunity Fund Panels training day on 31 March 2010 in Manchester. The 1-day course will look at practical ways to work with young people to agree criteria, promote the fund and ensure grant-making is diverse, inclusive and accessible. YouthBank UK will also consider a number of approaches to decision making, look at case studies and effective ways for monitoring and evaluation. For more information please contact YouthBank UK on 0116 242 7448 or email: youthbank@nya.org.uk.
The Development Education Association (DEA) are holding a launch to promote their new Global Youth Action practice guide. The event will be held at the Local Government Association in London on 18 March 2010. The event is free, but places are limited. Therefore, if you would to reserve a place, please e-mail Sarah Williams at the DEA on: sarah.williams@dea.org.uk. To find out more visit the Global Youth Action website at: www.globalyouthaction.org.uk
The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and the Local Government Association are holding a policy roundtable event, funded by the Office of the Third Sector on young people’s access to education, employment and training opportunities. Hidden Talents: The Next Step is part of Speaking Out in partnership with Children England. Discussions will be held around the challenges facing children and young people in today’s difficult economic climate. Contributors include voluntary sector experts and representatives from the three main political parties. The event will take place on 18 March 2010 in London. For more information and to book a place please e-mail Dom on: dominic@ncvys.org.uk.