Working with young people
Education, Training and Employment
The Connexions Service is a universal service providing advice, guidance and support on education, training and employment options for all 13-19 year olds in England. It replaces the old careers service and has a wider remit. The Connexions guidance outlines a looser framework and emphasises the importance of connecting with existing local services in the statutory, private and voluntary sector. It developed out of the Government’s Learning to Succeed White Paper in which the Government committed to setting up a single, coherent strategy aimed at all young people. One of Connexions clear objectives is to work alongside agencies addressing youth homelessness issues and as part of a multi-agency model Connexions can link agencies up with more services through cross-referral procedures. There are now 47 Connexions Partnerships in England.
The key aim of Connexions is to enable young people to participate effectively in appropriate learning, whether in school, college, training or other community setting, by raising their aspirations to realise their full potential.
Connexions is built on eight key principles:
Local and national outcome targets have been set to reflect these key principles. Key targets will relate to participation and attainment in education, training or work. This focus being taken from the Social Exclusion Unit’s report, Bridging the Gap, which found that participation has a major impact on a young person’s more general well-being.
Connexions is structured in such a way that it can facilitate planning and funding at a strategic level, whilst being flexible enough to deliver local services to reflect local needs. It has three tiers:
Connexions Partnerships should include in their Board membership the Chairs of all LMCs, the Chair or Chief Executive of the local Learning and Skills Council (LSC), and representation from private, voluntary and community sectors. LMCs are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Connexions Service locally. The membership of LMCs should be broad including voluntary and community organisations and link into services such as adult information, advice and guidance services
Primarily the service is delivered through a network of personal advisers, linking in with specialist support services. These services are drawn together from a range of existing provision across public, private, voluntary and community sectors, with linked provision being built upon existing services and best practice. The key delivery tool for Connexions is a network of personal advisers who take the frontline responsibility for ensuring the needs of a young person are met in an integrated and coherent manner. Personal advisers are available in a variety of settings from schools to outreach work based in community settings, including day centres.
Connexions Service National Unit has produced a series of handbooks promoting multi-agency methods under the heading ‘Working Together’ (Connexions Service National Unit 2001, 2002). These stress how Connexions will need to build on and link up existing services across agencies. They also highlight the need to ensure that current provision is not duplicated and that young people receive cohesive support. How this is done will vary depending on local circumstances and provision.
Building on the principle of joint working Connexions Partnerships are enabled to help the voluntary sector develop and strengthen. In addition to opening training opportunities to the voluntary sector, Connexions can sub-contract delivery of part of the service to voluntary sector agencies such as day centres. Grant funding is another option for increasing the capacity of the voluntary sector to be involved in the delivery of the Connexions Service, with maximum grants of up to £30,000 per organisation. (Working together – Connexions with Voluntary and Community Organisations, p. 19 Funding and Resources at Partnership level)
Other suggestions include assistance in developing organisational information management or quality assurance systems. Facilitating the acquisition of resources is also suggested, for example, by initiating joint fundraising bids. Ensuring consultation mechanisms are in place for the range of voluntary and community sector providers, either by building on existing forums or supporting the establishment of new consultative structures, is also suggested. Some day centres are already working in partnership with Connexions.
For further information and updates on these and other relevant policy areas and initiatives, see Homeless Link website www.homeless.org.uk where you will find news, briefings, and information on relevant events and training.