WIREDGOV

The skills and expertise of the young people's workforce is set to be boosted by a new £3.3 million investment into entry routes and development opportunities, as the latest strand of the Young People's Workforce Reform Programme is unveiled.

Announced by the Children's Workforce Development Council, it includes a Graduate Recruitment Scheme for those who work with 13-19-year-olds (or 25-year olds with a disability), as well as funding for Foundation Degrees and Advanced Apprenticeships.

Open to new entrants and current practitioners within the workforce, the routes are built on a common platform of shared skills and competences and focus on promoting integrated ways of working. Through this, they will not only enhance the specialist skills of the participants but also help foster closer collaboration between different sectors, specialists and organisations.

Nine local consortia from across England have been selected to deliver this broader training. Collectively, they will train up to 500 people, including participants on: Advanced Apprenticeships, Foundation Degrees and post-graduate qualifications.

The Third Sector is closely involved in the project. Each consortium includes Third Sector organisations, in some cases acting as the lead organisation, and all participants will spend time in Third Sector bodies as part of their training placements.

Participants will be recruited by all partners within each consortium. Young people will be involved in the selection processes.

The training will support greater co-operation and collaboration between different sectors and organisations. It will create real local impact, address needs identified within each consortium's area and allow individual innovation. By targeting new entrants, the project will ensure such approaches become embedded in organisations in the long term to support sustainable workforce development. Consortia will be supported by CWDC to reflect on how the project impacts at local level and encouraged to share this learning through local networks and national activity. 

The three levels of training are:

• Advanced Apprenticeships - Places on existing Youth Work or Community Justice frameworks (available March 2011) will be funded initially while a bespoke Apprenticeship framework for Integrated Youth Support (IYS) is developed. Training will include a Level 3 qualification and a range of specialist placements including at least one in a Third Sector organisation to ensure a holistic experience of Integrated Youth Support Services (IYSS).
• Foundation Degrees - Promoting integrated working and support IYS across the delivering local consortia, these will be accompanied by a significant programme of continuing professional development to equip participants to work across integrated services.
• Graduate Recruitment Scheme - These are two-year programmes, including four placements of six months each in different local young people's organisations, including at least one from the Third Sector. Participants will be given a local mentor and the programme will include formal learning that will build to a Master's degree or other postgraduate qualification.  

This is part of the third strand of the Young People's Workforce Reform Programme, an ambitious series of changes being delivered by CWDC and its partners. It implements a commitment in the government's Aiming High for Young People agenda to build an agreed set of shared competences and skills to be held by all those who support young people's personal, social and educational development. As part of this, a skills development framework is being designed by CWDC, following consultation with the workforce, along with a Youth Professional Status to recognise the very best in integrated working.

Deirdre Quill, Director of Integrated Workforce at CWDC said: "The many different roles that make up the young people's workforce make an invaluable contribution to the lives of our nation's young. Yet by building their distinct specialisms on a shared foundation of agreed skills and competences, they can make an even bigger difference.

"As well as helping create an even more skilled and confident workforce, establishing these new entry routes is an important step towards a greater unity. That means more young people will get the effective, preventative support and information they need whenever they come into contact with the workforce, regardless of location or circumstances. It will prevent often vulnerable young people slipping through the system and ensure they only need to tell their stories once.

"In an age in which young people's lives are becoming increasingly complex, anything we can do to bring greater clarity and simplicity will make a crucial, positive difference to the current and future wellbeing of our young people."

For further information please contact:

Michael Sheen, Band & Brown Communications: 020 7419 8631 michael@bbpr.com

Colleen Brayshaw, Band & Brown Communications: 020 7419 6934 colleen@bbpr.com

Leigh Dowd, CWDC press office: 0113 3907 658 leigh.dowd@cwdcouncil.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

The chosen providers are:

• Brighton and Hove Children & Young People's Trust
• Buckinghamshire County Council
• Cornwall Youth Partnership
• Devon County Council
• Gloucestershire County Council
• Youth Connexions Hertfordshire
• North Yorkshire County Council
• Rotherham MBC
• Warwickshire CVYS