Title: Critical issues in the provision of youth work for young disabled people
1Critical issues in the provision of youth work
for young disabled people
- Discussion materials
- Issue 3
- Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
2About this resource
- This resource is based on a thematic survey of
the provision of youth work for young disabled
people carried out in 2012. It contains summary
findings of each of the four critical issues
identified in the survey. - Each of the four packs suggests specific
questions for discussion. These are of course not
exhaustive, but it is hoped that youth work
commissioners and their partners will use the
questions as prompts to evaluate the services
they currently provide for young disabled people.
This may lead to identifying and sharing good
practice, as well as priorities for improvement. - You can take the issues in any order and spend as
long as you like on each one. However, we suggest
that at some stage you find time to look at all
four. - Link to the key findings of the survey
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/130018.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
3Overview of the discussion materials
- These materials look at the scope, reach and
nature of the provision and the four issues
considered in the survey - Issue 1 Enjoyment and learning curriculum
structure and design - Issue 2 The benefits of youth work
- Issue 3 Managing disabled young peoples
engagement and achievement - Issue 4 Youth workers and other practitioners
professional matters - Link for the materials on the other three issues
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/130018.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
4Scope of the survey
- HMI carried out visits to 18 providers of youth
work that were specifically selected because they
worked with young disabled people. - Providers included local authorities charities
voluntary and community sector organisations. - These comprised
- projects with a specialist focus working
primarily with - young people with a particular disability
- clubs that targeted a broader non-specific range
of - disabled young people
- integrated provision where disabled and
non-disabled - young people met together.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
5Survey findings
6Survey findings (1)
- Inspectors identified some very effective youth
work for disabled young people. However, the
quality of this work varied too much across the
sample of local authorities visited. - Inspectors found that the youth work offer for
disabled young people was inconsistent across the
sample of local authorities visited. - The pattern of provision seen was largely
historical, often including a portfolio of
inherited clubs, centres and programmes
originally founded by parents, support groups or
youth workers. - Overall participation rates were low and those
young people not known to services, and who would
benefit from the opportunities and support that
youth work affords, were clearly less well
served.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
7Survey findings (2)
- There are no national data to show the extent to
which disabled young people participate in youth
work. A lack of regional or national comparative
data inhibits planning. - Disabled minority ethnic young people and their
families accessed youth work provision less
frequently than White British groups.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
8Raising the challenge issues for consideration
by practitioners and managersManaging disabled
young
Issue 3
9Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings strategic planning
(1)
- There was an obvious and collective desire on the
part of the local authorities and their partners
to extend and improve provision, but strategic
oversight and planning were less evident. - Targeting of youth work was giving work with
disabled young people a level of priority, but
the majority of local authorities visited
struggled in relation to strategic planning as it
affects youth work provision.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
10Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings strategic planning
(2)
- There was often a lack of clarity about
commissioning and, in a few instances fundamental
decisions had yet to be taken about overall
commissioning strategies.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
11Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings building on
national policy (1)
- The Aiming High for Disabled Children policy
had often enabled a growth of short breaks and
respite care for disabled children and young
people and strengthened parental influence and
the notion of entitlement to services. - In one area, the Aiming High legacy was in the
form of a network which had a reputation for
quality and enjoyed the confidence of parents and
carers. The network was supported by skilled and
specialist staff promoting a wide variety of
sport, leisure and cultural activities
one-to-one support to enable disabled young
people to access services and training to
enhance the skills of staff and volunteers within
voluntary organisations.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
12Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings building on
national policy (2)
- Despite the virtues of short breaks there were
instances where programmes were put in place with
too little choice, or consultation with young
people.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
13Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings partnerships (1)
- The most effective local areas visited were
successfully capitalising on the differing but
complementary contributions of statutory services
and the more generic, non-statutory services
provided by voluntary and charitable
organisations or the local authority youth
service. - Good strategic arrangements between education and
social care were also creating links to
vocational and training opportunities and
information, advice and guidance this meant that
resources could be better deployed at points of
transition in a young disabled persons life,
such as when leaving school.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
14Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings partnerships (2)
- Where contributions were being maximised, senior
local authority managers communicated the impact
of involvement in youth activities on young
peoples well-being, and acknowledged the work in
strategic plans. The effect of this was to
encourage more meaningful and creative links at
local level between various agencies and
charities.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
15Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings integration and
inclusion (1)
- Inspectors saw good examples of specific
inclusion policies and where integration of
disabled and non-disabled young people was based
on self-referral and not upon the application of
labels such as disability. - However, a considered policy often oiled the
wheels of the interlinked and increasingly
interdependent roles of the voluntary, community
and charitable sectors and mainstream
employability programmes.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
16Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings integration and
inclusion (2)
- Most of the providers of open access youth work
seen claimed to accommodate the needs of disabled
young people as part of their core work such as
youth clubs, but few succeeded fully. Where this
was more successful, staff had the specialist
skills required to support the complexities and
barriers faced by young disabled people.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
17Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey features integration and
inclusion (3)
- Further features of effective planning and
curricula included - good integration where young people worked
together on set tasks over a defined period - unobtrusive support from specialist staff
- designing group work and other tasks which
accommodated the learning needs of young people
with particular difficulties and charted their
progress - regular attendance and managing the
practicalities of travel to and from activities
for disabled young people - the full support of a host, for instance the
young persons special school or indeed parents,
to give the particular youth activity validity as
a learning and social experience.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
18Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings integration and
inclusion (4)
- Evidence gathered through survey visits pointed
to the fact that minority ethnic groups accessed
activities less frequently than White British
groups. - Moreover, there were too few examples where
active consideration was given to the unmet needs
of minority ethnic young disabled people. Many of
the areas visited recognised weaknesses in this
respect.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
19Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings integration and
inclusion (5)
- In the more informed examples an Aiming High
worker was linking with families with a view to
understanding and tackling the factors that can
militate against minority ethnic young disabled
people accessing youth groups. - Buddying and mentoring opportunities between
non-disabled and disabled young people helped the
latter develop greater confidence, eventually
making the transition from targeted to integrated
youth settings.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
20Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings a planning role
for the local authority (1)
- External partners to youth services such as
schools and colleges stressed the essential
nature of the skills and experiences they
witnessed young people gaining through their
association with youth work. - Examples of effective strategies employed by
youth services and their partners to attract and
engage disabled young people included a county
policy which set a minimum level of service for
youth work activities across each of seven areas.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
21Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings a planning role
for the local authority (2)
- Further examples of effective strategies employed
by youth services and their partners to attract
and engage disabled young people included - disabled young people having access to provision
at set times in the week - investing in youth workers located in special
schools to strategically link and extend the
school curriculum with good-quality
community-based activities - supporting young peoples voice mechanisms in
local politics and government and in representing
peers.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
22Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings ensuring a role
for the voluntary, community and charitable
sectors (1)
Successful aspects of work supported by the
voluntary, community and charitable sectors
identified by inspectors included the business
planning and development capacity and expertise
seen in larger charities, which were able to
engage with local authorities in the scoping and
delivery of commissioned services.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
23Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings ensuring a role
for the voluntary, community and charitable
sectors (2)
- Further examples of successful work supported by
the voluntary, community and charitable sectors
identified by inspectors included - the high degree of independence of the national
charities, where youth work formed an element of
their overall educational, support, campaigning
and advocacy brief - the opportunities that had been developed in
supported employment, campaigning, foreign travel
and bespoke training for adult volunteers that
were also linked to relevant accreditation
schemes.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
24Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Survey findings ensuring a role
for the voluntary, community and charitable
sectors (3)
- Challenges faced by voluntary, community and
charitable sectors involved in youth work for
disabled young people included - managing budgets and creating responsive
governance arrangements - strategic planning, especially for organisations
with few partner agencies - ensuring that the specialist expertise in
disabilities offered was matched by sufficient
experience in youth work to maximise young
peoples learning, enjoyment and attendance - ensuring that staff had sufficient skills in
group work to provide an imaginative and varied
curriculum.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
25Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Overview
Despite, therefore, an overall positive picture,
inspectors found a number of critical issues
which shaped the nature and quality of young
peoples learning and engagement and affected the
reach of provision. In many cases the capacity
to tackle some of these issues is within the gift
of front-line workers and managers other issues
are strategy- , policy- and funding-related.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
26Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Critical issues discussion points
(1)
- The report highlights the need for strong senior
strategic leadership in ensuring a role for youth
work. It also states that improvement is within
the gift of middle managers and practitioners.
Are there good examples where this is the case? - Are specialist workers being deployed to support
youth work ?
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
27Managing disabled young peoples engagement and
achievement Critical issues discussion points
(2)
- What processes are in place to identify unmet
needs, particularly in respect of minority ethnic
young people? - Does quality assurance help workers get better at
what they do? - How sensitive is your open access work to the
complex needs of disabled young people? Â
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work
28Conclusion
29Conclusion
- We hope you have found this resource helpful in
promoting improvement in youth work for young
disabled people. - Good practice case studies
- We welcome comments on this training resource.
Please write to enquiries_at_ofsted.gov.uk and
ensure that you put Ofsteds discussion
materials Youth work in the subject box of your
email.
Ofsteds discussion materials Youth work