What's youth work for? Keeping bored young people off the street? Diverting troubled young people from drugs or alcohol? Helping all young people find and achieve their dreams?

The debate about the value of youth work is long standing. From 'ragged' schools for those who couldn't afford education to Baden Powell's physical and mental fitness programmes for future recruits to the Boer war, defining the purpose of youth clubs and what takes place within them has been a long standing issue. And this debate is no less significant today.

Indeed, this debate has taken on a sense of urgency recently as the sector is hit hard by harsh government cuts. Some areas are seeing investment in youth services cut by half (in authorities like Haringey and Bury this figure could be as high as 75%). Articulating value clearly is critical when resources are stretched. It can help build a case for investing in the most effective services which secure the best long-term outcomes for young people. It can also help youth work evidence its role and impact, opening up new potential opportunities through social finance.

The Young Foundation and the National Youth Agency (NYA), supported by the Local Government Association (LGA), have launched a new programme to inform investment into youth work. In consultation with some of the UK's leading youth sector practitioners, the aim is to design a simple 'calculator' which can help those on the frontline articulate the value of youth work more effectively.

This new landscape represents a significant challenge for the youth sector. There is agreement that qualitative evidence about the intrinsic impact and value of youth work is readily available, and can be powerful, but there is also agreement that quantitative evidence around extrinsic value is far less available, and is dispersed - there has been no systematic collection, collation or approach.
The project has undertaken a rapid review of existing research and tools, and aims to advise and shape future work through encouraging consensus and clarifying variables, contributing to development of commissioning policy and investments through the Big Society Bank.

Key Reading:

Informing investment in youth work: Measuring value and strengthening the evidence base

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