Oxfordshire Children and Voluntary Youth Services

Youth Riots- Opinion piece.

2011-08-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

As Director of OCVYS I have clearly watched very closely to see how Oxfordshire's youth sector has responded to the riots and we continue to watch the political fall out following the events of last week. I know some local politicians smiled to themselves, patted themselves on the back last week that violence and looting didn't hit Oxfordshire in any sustained way, but I don't think we should be patting ourselves for doing such a good job just yet.

The latest stats I could find online suggest over 2400 crimes were committed (07/08) by some 1500 young people in Oxfordshire, whilst 19% of those is for violent crime and 15% criminal damage, 26% theft and handling of stolen goods. 15% go on to reoffend, meaning some 225 young people are regular offenders in the County, or are likely to reoffend, whilst clearly overall offenders in the year are high enough, essentially to start a very major riot. Why is this important? Ultimately, because the reality is that a majority of the young people rioting across Cities were probably in those very same categories. All it takes sometime, is a trigger. This time, luckily, it didn't trigger Oxford's young people, but don't think it never will. It did in 2009 with feuding gangs in East Oxford,(http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4582460.EAST_OXFORD__Fueding_gangs_led_to__mayhem_/) and in 2010 at the Regal, where a fight broke out between 30 youths, gang fighting in Kidlington in October 2010 and for those that can cast their mind back, and were around, the riots that happened in Blackbird Leys in the 1990s.

Some very real, absolutely terrifying challenges we have ahead of us is how the thousands of young people who are now accessing youth services will be supported beyond the 31st August, when most of Oxfordshire's youth workforce will be made redundant. The early intervention hubs have become, in practice, multiple needs services working with children, young people and their families most at risk. They simply do not have the capacity to deliver to the thousands of young people that have depended on them for years. How are we going to support these important endings in the relationships of these young people with their youth workers, for some of whom they were their only source of support and confidante? So far, despite a thorough consultation about how this should be approached by OCVYS which we provided to the Council, there has been a lack of strategic approach to referrals. As one organisation put it 'we're having clients referred to us that our service is not even for, we can't deal with this level of referrals and the L.A. seems desperate to get you to take their young people, even though our service is not appropriate for them'.

The data across the County suggests that correlation between youth crime and provision is a definite. Since the Youth Service has been in Rose Hill, it has dropped 33%. Now Rose Hill will be an outreach hub, and the Residents Association has taken on a youth worker. For an estate that has in the past been served by a full time, qualified and experienced manager and a team of substantial and part time youth workers, mitigating the impact on these young people is going to be intensely difficult.

I challenge every statutory, and voluntary organisation in the County to think about this very carefully and consider their own role in increasing services for young people most at risk and tackling young people's disallusionment with society. I can't blame them really, there are not many adults I know at the moment that aren't disallusioned with our broken country: corrupt politicians fiddling their expenses, corrupt media tapping communications, corrupt bankers stealing the countries money, getting a bail out of tax payers money, then using it to give themselves bonuses. We have a system in which the people who were supposed to provide us with our moral compass have failed our society, and I can't imagine what kind of role model this provides to young people. As one organisation I visited last week put it, we need to change our culture back, to making what we are important, instead of what we have.

What I do know is arresting these young people and giving them unduly long sentences for their crimes to make an example, may deter others from following suit, but we will create a group of young people even more embittered to society for penalising them more than the next person.

We can only break this cycle by addressing the root causes. Has anyone, at all, actually talked to these young people yet and found out about what they think?

Safeguarding standards set by Commissioners in Oxfordshire.

2011-05-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

The new section 11 safeguarding

I went to the training session about the new section 11 safeguarding training today. The good news is that it is not as scary as it looks really, and that the Council and the Children's Act 2004 both make allowances for proportionality, i.e. if you are a small organisation, you are not going to be expected to comply in the same way as a large one. I think this is particularly useful for small youth clubs and projects as some of the guidance could seem a little over the top.

However overall I am convinced this will be a good thing. I am definitely interested to see the voluntary sector tighten its safeguarding procedures to being airtight so we don't let any children slip through the gaps. This is particularly important in light of generic services being withdrawn and the voluntary sector becoming a main provider of these services. The good news is that all training is funded and there is lots of help on hand from the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children's Board to implement the changes and you have until 2013 to achieve the minimum standards. Plus here at OCVYS we are on hand to help with any of the questions that people feel to embarrassed to ask the statutory authorities and we can always ask them anonymously for you, if that is useful, or advise as appropriate.

Children's Workforce Development Council's remit announced

2011-04-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Oxfordshire Children and Voluntary Youth Services has received substantial funding from the Children's Workforce Development Council over the past three years. CWDC has received their remit letter from the Department for Education, which outlines their work activities for 2011/12. Activities include
completing work to develop and deliver the framework for the development of apprenticeships for working with young people at levels 2 & 3 that was started under the Young People’s Workforce Reform Programme. CWDC will continue to support and embed integrated working across the wider workforce and disseminate good practice. There is no specific funding allocated to support the voluntary and community sector to engage in workforce reform and no continuation of what was the Workforce Strategy Partners Programme. More information.

http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/assets/0001/1784/Remit_letter_28_March_2011.pdf

This will impact on our delivery to our members in the short term but we hope to source other pots of funding for this work.

Inquiry into Services for Young People

2011-04-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

The fourth evidence session of the Education Select Committee Inquiry into
Services for Young People took place on the 30 March 2011. The committee
heard oral evidence from representatives from NCVYS members, including
Adam Nichols, Changemakers and Gill Millar, Learning South West. The first
panel was to examine the composition and effectiveness of the young
people’s workforce, including the recruitment, training and qualification
framework for youth workers and other staff working with young people,
including volunteers.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-az/commons-select/education-committee/news/services-for-youngpeople-oral-evidence-session3/

Funding for short breaks

2011-04-12T09:06:00.001-07:00

Short Breaks Small Grant Programme 2011/2012
The aim of this funding programme is to support voluntary and statutory organisations to set up small projects or activities to support disabled children, young people and their families. Short breaks enable parents and carers to do day to day activities, have time for themselves and the rest of the family and are therefore less likely to need access to crisis support. Furthermore, it gives disabled children and young people an opportunity to take part in fun and challenging activities, while learning new skills and socialising with their peers.
Funding applications can include:

· Small innovative projects supporting disabled children and young people

· Holiday playschemes and other activities

· Information and support to families

This is a rolling funding programme and applications will be assessed on a monthly basis to allow greater flexibility for groups and families. Applicants will be notified of the decision by the end of the month after the application has been submitted e.g. applications submitted in April will have a decision by the end of May. The maximum funding that can be awarded is £5,000. Criteria, instructions and application form can be obtained from OCVYS, email anna.day@ocvys.org

New projects funds opening up more youth spaces.

2011-04-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

UnLtd launches the Spaces 4 Change Awards in partnership with Channel 4.

Previously the UnLtd 4iP Awards, the Spaces 4 Change Awards now have a different focus which does not involve digital media and a much broader theme. They are looking for innovative ideas that unlock unused or under-utilised spaces for young people aged 16-25. Spaces that can be used to practice their cultural, creative or sporting passions.

The Awards are open to individuals over 16.

What is available?

32 Awards of up to £5,000 for individuals or informal groups across all regions to set-up and run their own project

Who can apply?

Applicants must be:

Aged 16 or over

Living in the UK

Applying as an individual or an informal group

How do I apply?

Please visit the website at http://unltd.org.uk/template.php?ID=217&PageName=spaces4changeawards to complete an online application form.

For more information, email Shamiela Ahmed on shamielaahmed@unltd.org.uk or call 0121 766 4570.

EMA consultation goes ahead

2011-04-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

Following the Government's announcement yesterday about the replacement for EMA - Bursary Fund for the most vulnerable and a Discretionary Fund to be allocated by colleges and learning providers - I attach a link to the DofE Consultation pages.
http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=conDocument&consultationId=1754&menu=1
Young people, providers and stakeholders are being asked for feedback on the proposals so you may like to provide some feedback.The consultation deadline is 20th May.

Let us know your comments and we'll feed them back. Email us on anna.day@ocvys.org

Tackling youth unemployment

2011-04-12T07:49:00.001-07:00

The UK Commission for Employment & Skills have published an enquiry titled
‘Employers perspectives on tackling youth unemployment’. The report is available
at www.ukces.org.uk/our‐work/strategy‐and‐performance/the‐youth‐inquiry/

Restorative Justice Conference

2011-03-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

Addressing Youth Crime & Antisocial Behaviour

Thursday 19 May 2011, Westminster Studio, Central London

The national conference on Addressing Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour is a platform to discuss a future where prevention and early intervention are given a higher priority in tackling youth crime and antisocial behaviour.

Share experiences and network with your peers working in youth offending teams, police, local authorities, education, secure establishments, courts and probation.

Hear from speakers, including: Ian McPherson QPM Asst Commissioner Metropolitan Police & National Lead, ACPO Children & Young People Business Area	Andrew Webb Corporate Director Children & Young People, Stockport Council, Elected Director, The Association of Directors of Children’s Services Ltd
Kelvin Doherty Assistant Director Northern Ireland Youth Conference Service	Anthony Salz Chair, Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour
John Drew Chief Executive Youth Justice Board for England and Wales	Lizzie Nelson Director Restorative Justice Council
View agenda Register your place http://tinyurl.com/4ld5hk4 for more information. This event is not organised by OCVYS.

The future of the voluntary children and youth sector consultation.

2011-03-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

We carried out a consultation at the Prospective Futures Conference around the future of the voluntary children and young people's sector in Oxfordshire.

The consultation generated some amazing ideas throughout the sector around what we can do to support your organisation, as well as the substantial role that voluntary sector organisations will play in the voluntary sector moving forward. The full paper is on our website, link at the bottom of the page. In the meantime, here are the key highlights from the discussions.

The voluntary sector will inevitably play a significant role in delivering public services to children and young people moving forward and in Oxfordshire in particular- will become largely the main provider of youth services. We need to be careful not to lose sight of the agenda for keeping youth work as part of public services. As news released today that Play England is also to lose its Government funding, it is becoming apparent that on the whole the Government is likely to lose sight of the children and youth agenda without a significant voice for the voluntary children and youth sector.

Key aspects of the consultation highlighted the need for a new breed of leadership in the voluntary children and youth sector- in Oxfordshire 774 registered organisations (according to the Charity Commission) are working with children and young people. We need to ensure these organisations are better represented in decision making and to do this we need to look beyond meetings where no-one goes to willingly, and look to how we can progress to a practical, exciting leadership platform where real decisions can be made for the benefit of the people we serve, children and young people and their families.

In driving forward our own leadership we are going to look at a range of options, but we would love to hear your thoughts. Email us, leave a comment, or ring us. We are all ears.

To read the strategy in progress: http://tinyurl.com/strategyocvys

The new Oxfordshire Children and Voluntary Youth Services Blog.

2011-03-01T04:25:00.000-08:00

This blog is designed to give uptodate news and views of what is happening at Oxfordshire Children and Voluntary Youth Services, a membership charity working with organisations across Oxfordshire that work with children and young people.

Pass on your comments and feedback and tell us how we can make this better. We'll try and get all the news of what's happening in the county to you quickly in return, and aim to update the blog quickly. You can also follow us on Twitter to find out when we have updated the Blog.

Want to find out more information about OCVYS? Why not visit our website at www.ocvys.org or call us on 01865 774004