Youth Support Service

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Youth Support Service (YSS) is part of Cheshire East's Children's Services Directorate. It covers the whole of Cheshire East with Youth Support Service hubs and family hubs.

YSS is for young people aged 13 -19 yrs (up to 25yrs with SEND). We offer open access, targeted Youth Work, Outdoor Education and focused support for young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. The Participation work facilitates a wider offer for ages 0-19 (up to 25yrs with SEND and care leavers) to engage in having a voice across Children’s Services.

What the Youth Support Service does

Targeted youth work

The main purpose of our targeted youth work is to –

engage and offer additional support to those young people who are most vulnerable and who are dis-engaged to ensure they are supported to reach their full potential. That they are listened to, given the opportunities to overcome barriers and make informed life choices and reduce risk taking behaviour and keep them safe from harm.
Our targeted youth work supports young people by - assessing with them their individual needs and tailoring programmes to offer accessible short- and long-term support through engagement and empowerment. Through offering alternative engagement programmes and projects to increase their learning and building on their existing skills, offering new opportunities to build their resilience, become confident, have their voices heard and achieve positive outcomes.
The delivery of this work will take place in building-based provision such as Family Hubs, Schools, Community detached and outreach youth work and through supporting the voluntary sector.

Our priorities – targeted young people-

Young people involved with or at risk of exploitation both criminal and sexual
Young people involved with or at risk of Anti-social behaviour
Young people missing from home
Young people with low attendance and missing out on education
Young people who require support with emotional health and well being
Young people with SEND

Targeted Youth Support

The Targeted Youth Support (TYS) team – TYS team works across Cheshire East with young people who are risk of NEET or currently NEET – with an emphasis and focus on the most vulnerable young people.

What do we do:

All young people who are NEET in academic years 12/13 will have an allocated worker
We assess the needs of the young person to enable them to move into Education, Employment or Training (EET) and ensure that they are supported to take up offers of EET
We advocate for the young person with providers to ensure they are supported.
We will be creative in engaging young people and families to develop positive outcomes
We work with multiple agencies to support movement into EET and attend any reviews, meetings as necessary
We ensure the young persons voice is heard and acted upon
We track young people’s activity status to ensure they are not NEET and we will do this throughout year 12/13.

Participation

Our vision for together for children and young people:

Through working together, we will make Cheshire East a great place to be young.
We will make our families and communities strong, welcoming and support where differences are respected and celebrated.
All our young people deserve to be happy, healthy and safe and to enjoy a life which is filled with fun and opportunities to learn and develop.
We will be hugely ambitious for all our young people, supporting them to succeed and grow as individuals, their interests will be at the heart of everything we do.
We will support young people to build on their strengths, develop resilience and achieve to their full potential, we will celebrate their successes.
We will fully prepare our young people for their transition into adulthood, so they have the skills to thrive now and in the future.
It is a Child and Young Person’s right to be listened to and taken seriously. This right is protected under Article 12 in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Our priorities – targeted children and young people:

Children and young people who are cared for and care experienced
Children and young people with SEND
Children and young people who have poor mental health and wellbeing
Children and young people involved with or at risk of exploitation both criminal and sexual
Children and young people involved with or at risk of anti-social behaviour
Children and young people with low attendance and missing out on education
Children and young people who require support with emotional health and well being
Children and young people from seldom heard groups including – LGBTQ+ , BAME, gypsy, roma and traveller community, UASC, domestic violence and domestic abuse.