The government announced (following consultation) changes to the inspection arrangements for services relating to children, young people and adult learners. The existing education inspectorate (Ofsted) would be enlarged to become the (provisionally named) Office for Standards in Education, Children s Services and Skills, bringing together the children/young people remits of the Commission for Social Care Inspection, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Court Administration, and Adult Learning Inspectorate.
Source: A Single Inspectorate for Children and Learners, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Hansard | DfES press release | ALI press release
Date: 2005-Dec
The government published (alongside the Pre-Budget Report 2005) a report which examined the progress since 1997 in improving outcomes for children and young people. It considered action to build on this progress, and reach those who had not benefited equally from improvements thus far. 53 million would be spent (over two years) in improving services and support for families and children, including piloting new parent support advisors in over 600 primary and secondary schools.
Source: Support for Parents: The best start for children, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558) and Department for Education and Skills
Links: Report | HMT press release
Date: 2005-Dec
A report said that young people on low incomes would continue to face the risk of serious debt and homelessness if planned reforms to housing benefit went ahead unchanged.
Source: Early Days: CAB evidence on the local housing allowance, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report | Citizens Advice press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that an unacceptably high proportion of young people suffered from a wide range of mental health issues that adversely affected family life, friendships, development, and academic achievement.
Source: Adolescent Angst, Priory Group (01372 860 400)
Links: Report | Priory press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report examined a study of the effectiveness of specialist support teams set up by local authorities to offer intensive short-term preventative services to divert adolescents from the care system.
Source: Nina Biehal, Working With Adolescents: Supporting families, preventing breakdown, BAAF Adoption and Fostering (020 7593 2000)
Links: Summary | Children Now report
Date: 2005-Oct
A report criticized the absence of a national system for recording the disappearance of children.
Source: Every Five Minutes: A review of the available data on missing children in the UK, PACT (Parents and Abducted Children Together) (020 7627 3699)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Oct
A survey found that many parents did not report their missing
children to the police, and thousands of runaway children were being harmed on the streets.
Source: Gwyther Rees and Jenny Lee, Still Running II: Findings from the second national survey of young runaways, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: Report (pdf) | Children's Society press release
Date: 2005-Oct
Three linked reports evaluated the Local Network Fund (designed to improve the targeting of government spending on children and young people living in the most deprived areas). The first focused on issues raised by the process of applying for grants; the second looked at the impact of grants awarded; and the third examined the overall effectiveness of the fund as a mechanism for delivering grants, given the goals of the fund.
Source: National Evaluation of the Local Network Fund, Evaluating the Application Process for the Local Network Fund for Children and Young People: Getting the money, Research Report 683, Department for Education and Skills | National Evaluation of the Local Network Fund, Evaluating the Impacts of the Local Network Fund for Children and Young People: Using the money, Research Report 684, Department for Education and Skills | National Evaluation of the Local Network Fund, Conclusions and Policy Proposals on the Local Network Fund for Children and Young People: Was the money used well?, Research Report 685, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report 683 (pdf) | Brief 683 (pdf) | Report 684 (pdf) | Brief 684 (pdf) | Report 685 (pdf) | Brief 685 (pdf)
Date: 2005-Sep
A report said that significant numbers of homeless young people were not being helped by new homelessness legislation. Young homeless people accepted by local authorities were spending longer in temporary accommodation, with most expecting to wait 6 months to a year before being offered long-term housing. Some had been placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation where they were at risk of violence, theft, bullying, and exposure to alcohol and drug misuse.
Source: I. Anderson and S. Thomson, More Priority Needed: The impact of legislative change on young homeless people's access to housing and support, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Shelter press release | Community Care report
Date: 2005-Sep
A symposium report said that existing approaches to dealing with mental health problems in young people were overly simplistic. Policy-makers and service providers needed to take a joined-up approach to a multiplicity of factors and the interplay between them.
Source: Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer, Perspectives on the Causes of Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents, YoungMinds (020 7336 8445)
Links: Report (pdf) | Young People Now report
Date: 2005-Sep
A survey report described the prevalence of mental disorders among children and young people in Great Britain aged 5-16 in 2004, and noted changes since the previous survey in 1999. In 2004, 1 in 10 of those concerned had a clinically recognizable mental disorder.
Source: Hazel Green, Aine McGinnity, Howard Meltzer, Tamsin Ford and Robert Goodman, Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain, 2004, Office for National Statistics, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
An education inspectorate report said that only a very small minority of those schools visited were working towards, or had met, the criteria for providing for pupil?s emotional health and well-being.
Source: Healthy Minds: Promoting emotional health and well-being in schools, HMI 2457, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | Children Now report
Date: 2005-Jul
A report said that almost three-quarters of urban young people who prayed daily were found to have a sense of purpose, compared to just 48 per cent of those who never prayed.
Source: Gwyther Rees, Leslie Francis and Mandy Robbins, Spiritual Health and the Well-Being of Urban Young People, Children?s Society (020 7841 4415), Commission on Urban Life and Faith, and University of Wales (Bangor)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Children's Society press release
Date: 2005-Jul
A report said that nearly two-thirds of the local authorities surveyed had no plans for how they would house homeless young people (aged 16-17), and around a third had no plans to offer supported accommodation. This was despite the introduction of the Homelessness Act 2002 that placed a duty on local authorities to make this age group a priority.
Source: Bed and Breakfast: Unfit Housing for Young People, Centrepoint (020 7426 5300)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
A research review highlighted the potentially profound consequences of bereavement on young people: but effects on individuals varied widely and a range of support services was required to reflect this.
Source: Jane Ribbens McCarthy with Julie Jessop, Young People, Bereavement and Loss: Disruptive transitions?, National Children?s Bureau (020 7843 6029) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: JRF Findings 0315 | JRF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
A think-tank paper argued for the introduction of a youth allowance for all those aged 16-19.
Source: A UK Youth Allowance?, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (020 7582 7221)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
An annual survey examined health-related behaviour by young people aged 10-15. It was found that 1 in 5 of those aged 14-15 had tried at least one illegal drug.
Source: Young People in 2004, Schools Health Education Unit (01392 667272)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
An article said that the National Health Service needed to overhaul its approach to adolescent health if it were to meet the health needs of young people. While the health of children and older people had improved considerably, young people had fallen through the gap in targeted services.
Source: Russell Viner and Maggie Barker, 'Young people's health: the need for action', British Medical Journal, 16 April 2005
Links: Extract | BMJ press release
Date: 2005-Apr
A national inquiry into self-harm among young people published its third interim report. It said that professionals in residential settings needed a better understanding of self-harm.
Source: Closed Settings, Closed Minds? - Young people who self-harm, Camelot Foundation (020 7828 6085)and Mental Health Foundation
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2005-Mar
A discussion paper attempted to build a picture of levels of confidence in Scotland. It included information on the impact of low confidence on children and young people. Low self-esteem was found to be a risk factor for adolescent eating disorders, teenage pregnancy, suicide and depression.
Source: Confidence in Scotland: A discussion paper, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Discussion paper
Date: 2005-Mar
A survey of teenagers found that 33 per cent had experienced some form of domestic violence or abuse at home.
Source: Press release 21 March 2005, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500)
Links: NSPCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
The government's Social Exclusion Unit published an interim report on ways to help young adults (aged 16-25) with severe or multiple problems become independent adults, and escape the spiral of disadvantage. It said that young adults often lost continuity in treatment and support when making the transition between adolescent and adult services; and it called for a focus on the invisible early twenties, the age at which youth policies had tended to end.
Source: Transitions: A Social Exclusion Unit interim report on young adults, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 5550)
Links: Report (pdf) | SEU press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A report examined access to, and the acceptability of, services for the mental health of young people from black and minority ethnic groups. It said that some parts of the country had successfully developed mental health services for young people from these groups including effective multi-agency links whereas other areas had little or no specific provision.
Source: Cathy Street, Ceilidh Stapelkamp, Emily Taylor, Mhemooda Malek and Zarrina Kurtz, Minority Voices: Research into the access and acceptability of services for the mental health of young people from Black and minority ethnic groups, YoungMinds (020 7336 8445)
Links: Report (pdf) | YoungMinds press release
Date: 2005-Feb
A report investigated government strategies, existing practice and voluntary sector initiatives (across a range of educational settings) associated with young people and self-harm. Young people who had self-harmed believed that educational settings were the most appropriate place for topics such as self-harm to be tackled: they felt that there was a need for clear information and advice specific to self-harm to be made widely available within different educational settings something that was not being undertaken.
Source: National Self-Harm Inquiry, What s Happening & Who Knows?: Educational settings and young people who self-harm, Mental Health Foundation (020 7802 0300) and Camelot Foundation
Links: Report (Word file) | Inquiry press release | Young People Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan