New date: 23rd October 2020, America Square Conference Centre, London

Youth work in all its forms can have a transformational impact on young people’s lives. After a decade of policy neglect and underfunding, the beginning of the 2020s promises a strong focus on youth work policy, skills and qualifications not seen for many years.

A government review of statutory guidance this year will clarify what services local authorities must provide, while a review of youth work qualifications will set out new routes to the profession and skills for youth workers in the future.

Moreover, on the back of severe cuts in provision nationwide during the 2010s, the government is pledging significant investment in support and facilities for young people over the course of the next parliament through various funding streams.

Youth Work in the 2020s will provide essential learning and insight for everyone who has an interest in the future of youth work. The conference - organised by Children & Young People Now, alongside our event partner National Youth Agency - brings together key figures and leading practitioners to support you in providing high quality, effective services and support to all young people.

The conference, on Thursday 23rd October 2020, will feature a series of CPD-certified keynote talks and practice seminars, providing key insights on:

  • The ongoing review of the youth work curriculum and qualifications and what it will mean for the workforce in practice

  • How funders, commissioners and employers believe youth work can yield greater influence and win its ‘seat at the table’

  • Measuring the impact of youth work, and establishing a framework of learning, evaluation and continuous improvement

  • Youth participation, and encouraging decision makers to listen to young people

  • Funding streams for youth work, and the current facilities and infrastructure needs of the sector

  • The National Youth Agency’s 2020 Ten Year Vision for Youth Work, and what it would mean for the whole sector

  • How contextual safeguarding and detached youth work approaches can address serious youth violence and gang membership

  • Effective youth work approaches for schools, and developing links between life in the classroom and life outside the classroom

  • How Leeds-based Getaway Girls – winner of the CYP Now Youth Work Award – has transformed the lives of girls and young women

  • Trauma-informed youth work in health settings, and building working relationships with health staff

  • Practice learnings and outcomes from the National Citizen Service that can be applied more widely to support young people

The conference is designed for:

  • Professional qualified youth workers

  • Youth support workers

  • Skilled youth work volunteers

  • Managers, directors and practitioners across children and young people’s services

  • Commissioners of services

  • Early help teams

  • Policy makers and officers

  • Early support co-ordinators

  • Youth justice practitioners

  • Provider of youth advice and guidance

  • Public health professionals

  • Quality and performance managers

  • Heads of strategy

  • Heads of evaluation and evidence

  • The academic community