The government promised to end the use of bed and breakfast accommodation to house homeless young people aged 16-17 by 2010. It announced a package of measures which included supported lodgings schemes, providing foster-style accommodation for homeless young people.
Source: Speech by Ruth Kelly MP (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government), 14 November 2006
Links: Text of speech | YJB press release | Shelter press release | Crisis press release | YMCA press release | LGA press release | Relate press release | NCH press release | Foyer press release | Community Care report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report said that a million young people faced a life of poor health and depression unless they were given more support to find work. Young unemployed people were more vulnerable to binge-drinking, depression, poor diet, smoking, and drug misuse.
Source: Fit for the Future? Exploring the health and well-being of disadvantaged young people, Prince's Trust (020 7543 1234)
Links: Report | Prince's Trust press release
Date: 2006-Nov
New official guidance said that by 2009 all teachers, nurses and family doctors should be trained in recognizing children s mental health problems. It also called for the use of adult wards for children to be eliminated within five years, except for a few older adolescents who identified more readily with young adults.
Source: Louis Appleby, Sheila Shribman and Naomi Eisenstadt, Promoting the Mental Health and Psychological Well-being of Children and Young People: Report on the implementation of Standard 9 of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Guidance | Annex | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Nov
Campaigners called for the abolition of the 'single room rent restriction' rule (limiting housing benefit for under-25s to the average local rent for shared accommodation). They said that it caused hardship and homelessness among young and vulnerable adults.
Source: Single Room Rent: The Case for Abolition, Child Poverty Action Group (020 7837 7979) and others
Links: Pamphlet | CPAG press release
Date: 2006-Oct
An article examined the evidence base for the effectiveness of school- and community-based physical activity interventions aimed at young people.
Source: Lorraine Cale and Jo Harris, 'Interventions to promote young people s physical activity: issues, implications and recommendations for practice', Health Education Journal, Volume 65 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Oct
A report presented 22 indicators relating to the health and well-being of children and young people in the English regions. It made a number of recommendations for future development concerning data collection and analysis, focusing particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable children and children living in special circumstances.
Source: Brian Ferguson et al., Indications of Public Health in the English Regions: 5 - Child Health, Association of Public Health Observatories (0191 3340398)
Date: 2006-Oct
A report examined how mobile phones had changed the way children and young people lived. 91 per cent of children aged 12 owned a mobile phone. Almost 80 per cent of the young people surveyed said that they felt safer having a mobile, and that they had a better social life as a result. But 1 in 3 said that they talked regularly and/or send texts to people they did not want their parents to know about.
Source: The Mobile Life Youth Report 2006: The impact of the mobile phone on the lives of young people, Carphone Warehouse (0845 604 1207)
Links: Report | Carphone press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report called for rigorous standards to be applied when designing mentoring programmes for vulnerable young people. It said that a broken or dysfunctional mentoring relationship could lead to feelings of mistrust, abandonment, and isolation in an already troubled young person.
Source: Making Mentoring More Effective, YoungMinds (020 7336 8445)
Links: Report | YoungMinds press release
Date: 2006-Sep
The interim evaluation was published of a programme of education and support to young people aged 13-15 at risk of school exclusion, drug misuse, and teenage pregnancy. Most of the participants were very positive about involvement with their project.
Source: Meg Wiggins et al., Evaluation of the Young People s Development Programme: Second interim report, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the move into independence of young people after they left foyer accommodation. For the majority of leavers social housing provided the most stable affordable housing option. Benefit levels were set too low for young people not to be in debt, not to risk losing their accommodation, and not to eat unhealthily.
Source: Joan Smith and Oonagh Browne with Vanessa Newton and Ann O Sullivan, What Happened Next? A report on ex-residents of Foyers, Foyer Federation (020 7430 2212)
Links: Summary | Housing Corporation press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the role of foyers in housing association provision. It said that they filled real gaps in provision for young people, and provided a high-quality, value-for-money service. Weekly costs for foyer residents averaged 303 a week, compared with secure training centres costing 3,168 a week, and young offender institutions costing 976 a week.
Source: Roland Lovatt and Christine Whitehead, Launch Pad for Life, Housing Corporation (020 7393 2000)
Links: Report | Housing Corporation press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Jul
A survey found that 1 in 3 children (aged 10-16) felt unsafe using parks some or all of the time - with gangs, bullies, and drunken children among the reasons.
Source: Press release 20 July 2006, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (020 7960 2400)
Links: CABE press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A new book examined the findings of the first large-scale survey of deliberate self-harm and suicidal thinking in adolescents in the United Kingdom, and drew out the implications for prevention strategies and mental health promotion.
Source: Keith Hawton and Karen Rodham with Emma Evans, By Their Own Young Hand: Deliberate self-harm and suicidal ideas in adolescents, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jun
A study found that community-based locations such as youth centres, and youth-oriented services, offered a more successful means of engaging with young men at risk of suicide than more formal settings such as family doctor surgeries.
Source: Chris Oliver and Pamela Storey, Evaluation of Mental Health Promotion Pilots to Reduce Suicide Amongst Young Men, National Institute for Mental Health in England/National Health Service (0113 254 5000)
Links: Report | Summary | DH press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report presented data on health-related behaviour among young people aged 10-15.
Source: Young People into 2006, Schools Health Education Unit (01392 667272)
Links: SHEU press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that mental health problems in children and adolescents were on the increase: but mental health services were failing the most vulnerable, such as children in care, and those from black and ethnic minorities.
Source: Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A guide for healthcare professionals, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: Report | BMA press release | MHF press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
The Northern Ireland Executive announced a ten-year strategy for children and young people in Northern Ireland. It said that more needed to be done for children and young people who were either disadvantaged or marginalized.
Source: Our Children and Young People ? Our Pledge, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Strategy | NIE press release | NICCY press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined evaluations of programmes which provided a reward, such as cash payments or entry into prize draws, to facilitate desired health behaviours among children and young people. Although incentives might be effective in promoting simple behaviours, such as attendance for immunization, they were not an easy solution for more complex behaviours.
Source: Josephine Kavanagh, Alex Trouton, Ann Oakley and Chloe Powell, A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Incentive Schemes to Encourage Positive Health and Other Social Behaviours in Young People, EPPI-Centre/Social Science Research Unit/Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
The disability rights watchdog said that schools, children?s centres and youth services should have higher expectations of children with disabilities. Disabled young people at age 16 were twice as likely not to be in any form of education, employment or training as their non-disabled peers - due to a vicious circle of low aspirations and decreasing life chances.
Source: The Surest Start: Improving the life chances of young disabled people, Disability Rights Commission (08457 622633)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
A report (by an official advisory body) examined the influence of a range of social indicators on the health and health-related behaviour of children in England aged 11-15. It explored the relative importance of school, family, and neighbourhood across a number of health indicators in order to improve understanding of how best to promote the healthy development of young people.
Source: Antony Morgan, Sally Malam, Jim Muir and Rhiannon Barker, Health and Social Inequalities in English Adolescents: Exploring the importance of school, family and neighbourhood, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (0870 121 4194)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Apr
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to extend controls over video games which depicted scenes of extreme violence.
Source: Video Games Bill, Keith Vaz MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill
Date: 2006-Mar
An inquiry found that more needed to be done to help young people who self-harmed. Teachers, doctors and social workers did not receive the training they needed to deal with self-harm cases.
Source: National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People, Truth Hurts, Mental Health Foundation (020 7803 1100) and Camelot Foundation
Links: Report | Inquiry press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to establish a licensing regime for the sale or promotion of any service providing data on the location of children, where these data had been derived from any mobile telephone network, satellite system, or other electronic or communications medium.
Source: Licensing of Child Location Services Bill, Judy Mallaber MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NCH press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report said that the mental health and well-being of schoolchildren should be a top priority for schools from primary age upwards.
Source: Norma Hart et al., Making a Fuss: Recognising and responding to the mental health needs of young people, School of Education/University of Aberdeen (k.a.mcardle@abdn.ac.uk)
Links: Aberdeen press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report evaluated a project designed to allow young people to be involved in the planning and provision of their health treatment.
Source: Evaluating Children's Health Services: The adolescent user perspective, Action for Sick Children (01455 845600)
Links: ASC press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A briefing paper presented the interim findings of research into the kinds of support, both formal and informal, which were helpful to young people at times of change in their household and parenting arrangements.
Source: Cool with Change: Young people and family change, Briefing 26, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships/University of Edinburgh (0131 651 1832)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2006-Feb
A report said that a project had succeeded in improving sexual health awareness and practice among young teenagers.
Source: Clive Sealey, An Evaluation of a Multifaceted, Program-related Youth Work Approach to Tackling Teenage Pregnancy, Maypole Centre (0121 464 6172)
Links: Report | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Jan
A guide was published to the most effective programmes for promoting children and young people's well-being while reducing the risks of under-achievement and anti-social behaviour.
Source: Jonathan Langman (ed.), A Guide to Promising Approaches: Second edition, Communities that Care (020 7619 0123)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
A study examined housing-related issues facing young people. Young people's routes to independent housing were part of a bigger picture in which they were remaining longer in education and moving later into employment, independent housing, and a stable relationship with a partner. These routes were subject to increased risk and uncertainty for all young people: but some experienced greater levels of risk than others, depending on their social class background.
Source: Sue Heath, Housing Choices and Issues for Young People in the UK, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The final report was published of an independent review of child and adolescent mental health services. Since 2004 there had been 'significant progress' within all services contributing to mental health and psychological well-being: but improvements were still not as comprehensive, as consistent or as good as they could be. The government responded by announcing a plan to set up a National Advisory Council for children's mental health and psychological well-being.
Source: Children and Young People in Mind: The final report of the National CAMHS Review, Department of Health (08701 555455) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 November 2008, columns 9-11WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DH/DCSF press release | Hansard | MHF press release | YoungMinds press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A think-tank report said that severe psychiatric disorders in children and young people cost society as much as £1.5 billion every year owing to a lack of available treatment.
Source: Iona Joy, Matthew van Poortvliet and Clare Yeowart, Heads Up: Mental health of children and young people, New Philanthropy Capital (0207 401 8080)
Links: Summary | NPC press release
Date: 2006-Jan