WIREDGOV

A beacon of best practice for those working with England's young people is set to be lit with the publication of the first standards for Youth Professional Status (YPS).

The Standards have been developed by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC), following extensive consultation with the young people's workforce, and key organisations. A pilot assessment process for the Standards will also begin in April 2010.

Youth Professional Status aims to increase the standing of those working with 13-to 19-year-olds (or 13- to 25-year-olds who have a disability), raising standards of practice even higher to help give young people the support they need to realise their full potential. 

As well as improving practice within the workforce, YPS will act as a rallying point to foster a stronger sense of common identity and greater parity with fellow professionals in the social work and teaching workforces.

The standards for YPS have been made available to download on the CWDC website: www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/young-peoples-workforce/common-platform-of-skills-and-competences. They cover five core areas:

• Applying specialisms in an integrated workforce.
• Shared values.
• Knowledge and understanding for reflective practice.
• Working with young people.
• Planning, managing and evaluating. 

They follow on from extensive consultation with the workforce and those supporting the workforce, which found support for the implementation of YPS. 

The YPS pilot will run from April 2010 to March 2011. It will test practice against the draft standards, provide incentives to participants who meet them, and supply evidence for their evaluation.

Discussions are in place with the nine consortia from across the country that have been selected to deliver Integrated Youth Support Service (IYSS) training courses. They have been asked to identify a total of 250 candidates to undertake assessment against the draft standards. Candidates will be graduates working in a diverse range of organisations within each consortium's local area, covering a range of disciplines in integrated youth support.

To help manage assessment against the standards, candidates will be split into two cohorts. Funding will be provided to allow employers cover for staff during their two-day preparation time for assessment.

The pilot will go beyond assessment against the standards, as candidates will be required to undertake activity that builds on their knowledge, skills and competences as leaders of integrated practice. This includes delivering integrated working master classes to colleagues and ongoing research, for which further funding for cover will be provided. 

Deirdre Quill, Director of Integrated Workforce at CWDC, said:  "I am delighted that Youth Professional Status standards have been published today and that we are able to announce a pilot to test their operation and impact.

"The standards have been designed by a range of workforce experts inside and outside CWDC to set a benchmark for leadership of integrated working at the frontline and are the results of 10 months' national consultation and development. I commend them to employers and individual workers across the young people's workforce in England as a tool to help shape and recognise effective integrated working.

"I am also delighted that nine areas of England have expressed an interest to test the impact of YPS on raising the quality of practice across integrated youth support services. Those who meet the standards in the pilot will be confirmed as role models for integrated working across a range of youth support services and more widely. The pilot will give them opportunities to influence practice widely across the workforce and to develop their own expertise further."

YPS is the latest strand of the Young People's Workforce Reform Programme, part of the government's 10-year Aiming High strategy. Developed and delivered by CWDC in partnership with national young people's workforce organisations, including the voluntary sector, these ambitious reforms will enhance and unite the workforce while reinforcing its constituent parts' specialist skills. Strands to strengthen leadership and management and a capacity building programme to further improve the skills of the Third Sector young people's workforce are already underway.

The draft Youth Professional Status standards are available to download at: http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/young-peoples-workforce/common-platform-of-skills-and-competences/yps

1. 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