Introduction

The central thrust of the work of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A, 2009) is to make the case for tailoring specific services to the needs of vulnerable young people in the 18-24 age group who are caught up in the criminal justice system. This publication adds something concrete to that argument by showcasing projects and services in a range of fields that are doing just that.

The reasons for treating this age group differently are set out elsewhere (Devitt et al, 2009 p1-4; T2A, 2009) but can be summarised as flowing from changes in society over the past few decades that have resulted in the transition to adulthood being delayed or alternatively, adolescence being extended.Young people in their mid-twenties are now much more likely to need significant family support in their mid-twenties than in 1970s and 1980s and those without such support struggle to get by (SEU, 2005; Chater, 2009).

Unfortunately, most services have not moved with the times and take an age-boundaried approach suited to a former era, with children’s and adults’ services separated at the 18 mark. Of course some attention has been given to bridge this gap. For example, the Connexions service has extended its upper limit of age 19 to age 25 for disabled young people, and other vulnerable groups such as care leavers. But the reality is that even for these young people, the ‘join’ often does not work well (McGrath & Yeowart, 2009; Stein, 2009). Some pioneering agencies have begun to see the need for a new way of doing things and that is the focus of this report. Here we present six organisations that have designed services around the 18-24 age group. To fully showcase these services and projects, we include the views of staff involved in the set up and delivery; young people benefitting from the help of these organisations; and service commissioners, who were instrumental in getting them underway. We have then distilled key messages from how they work. The publication concludes with a directory of services and projects that support young adults, 16-24, across England and some other areas in the UK.

As with our previous T2A publication, Young Adults Today (Devitt et al, 2009) – an information digest about young adults, we have examined services that address a broad range of issues. Switchback, for example, exclusively targets young adults who are in the criminal justice system. The Yard Project targets young adults who find it difficult to sustain education, employment or training. Bridging the Gap and IceBreak, are working with a wider group who have mental health and emotional wellbeing problems. Young Addaction Derby supports young adults with drug misuse issues. And finally, the Young Carers Transition Service, which focuses on young people who have often full-time, caring responsibilities.

These projects and services demonstrate the unique ways in which staff not only help young adults with their key area of need, but also how they offer support as young adults make the complex and challenging passage to adulthood. Staff work hard to connect with the young adults and allocate time to building and maintaining relationships. They draw upon a range of methods and are influenced by outreach youth work. These services place young adults in the wider social context. They know that families are important and work sensitively to maximise positive involvement with a young adult’s wider support network rather than collude with simplistic models that see young adults as disconnected ‘independent’ individuals. Staff also realise that they cannot do everything themselves and often work closely with other organisations to better meet young adults’ needs. Building skills and confidence and boosting self-esteem is at the heart of these approaches.

The learning from these projects sits alongside that from Aiming Higher (2010), which was published by Revolving Doors Agency, another member of the T2A Alliance. Aiming Higher identified seven themes that appeared central to ‘good practice’ in services working with 16-24 year-olds: quality of relationships; continuity; personalised support; meeting basic needs; information, misinformation and challenging stigma; getting involved; and the need to have high aspirations for young people and consequently ‘aim higher’. Our research echoed many of these themes, emphasising the value in services that completely ‘get’ the need to focus specifically on this age group and in doing so, take a ‘wrap-around’ approach that ensures that the young adults’ wider needs are catered for.
The six projects featured in Made to Measure are all relatively new, four having been set up in the last two years and two in the last six years. What we are looking at then is the green shoots of what might become a new movement of services tailored to the needs of young adults, 18-24. It is too soon to be able to evaluate the long term impact of this approach and the numbers they are currently catering for are relatively small, but these organisations are clearly offering us examples of promising practice and as such, a wealth of material that will help others to follow in their footsteps.

References

Chater, D. (2009). Universities of Crime: Young Adults, the Criminal Justice System and Social Policy. Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A). London.

Devitt, K. Knighton, L. and Lowe, K. (2009). Young Adults Today. Young People in Focus. Brighton.

McGrath, M. and Yeowart, C. (2009). Rights of Passage: Supporting Disabled Young People Through the Transition to Adulthood. New Philanthropy Capital. London.

Revolving Doors Agency. (2010). Aiming Higher: A Good Practice Guide. Revolving Doors Agency. London.

Social Exclusion Unit (SEU). (2005). Transitions: Young Adults with Complex Needs: A Social Exclusion Final Report. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. London.

Stein, M. (2009). Young People Leaving Care: Transitions to Adulthood. In Petch, A (ed.) Managing Transitions: Support for individuals at key points of change. The Policy Press, Bristol, pp. 25-39.

Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A). (2009). Young Adult Manifesto. Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A). London.