Detached youth work evaluation
The VVU has been funding detached youth work since 2020 following feedback from our Listening Projects on how vital young people find this type of youth work. Young people identified that more trusted adults, more opportunities to engage in activities, and more safe spaces to socialise in would help them feel safer in their local communities.
The VVU has since worked with Essex Council for Voluntary Youth Services (ECVYS) and local partners to deliver detached youth work in seven areas across the county.
The development of trust between the young people and the youth workers is key to the success of this programme. The detached youth workers go to the places young people hang out and feel comfortable, and are there week in, week out to build up trust and familiarity. This consistency – and reliability – allows relationships to build and young people to access the support they need.
This approach has been the subject of a local, independent evaluation aimed at understanding how young people and youth workers themselves feel about Detached Youth Work in their areas. This work complements a national approach to understanding the overall impact of Detached Youth Work.
Between September 2020 and January 2024 the Detached Youth Work programme in Essex delivered 1,428 sessions with more than 18k recorded contacts with young people.
Positive Outcomes
Evaluation of the programme has identified that trust in the detached youth workers was the primary outcome, which has led to many secondary outcomes including willingness to engage with other services, improved engagement with positive activities and less anti-social behaviour.
Positive changes such as improved educational attainment and greater education / employment outcomes happened due to initial conversations with detached youth workers which then lead to improvements and support within schools, including young people receiving a range of help, for example with CV writing and job searching.