Integrated Youth Support Services

Integrated Youth Support Service:

One Entity, Four Hubs

10-19 years and up to 25 for care leavers and those with Special Education Need and Disabilities (SEND), specifically an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP)

The Youth Sector in Gloucestershire is a diverse landscape made-up of a rich and varied range of youth and community organisations, with Council run services, professional youth workers and volunteers. The new Integrated Youth Support Service (IYSS) model seeks to build on and complement this, ensuring at risk young people have somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to outside of school. It will focus on addressing disadvantage and inequality by delivering statutory and wider functions, including responsive, detached, assertive outreach, ensuring that our most at risk groups are supported to achieve positive outcomes.

The delivery of the Integrated Youth Support Service model will also underpin the incremental development of a Family Hub model for the county. The Council is seeking to provide a high-quality service which is accessible and inclusive for all Children and Young People aged 0-19, and up to 25 years, if they have SEND focusing on those with an EHCP or are a care leaver in Gloucestershire. In recognition of the fact that this is an evolving programme requiring flexibility to maximise the growing working relationships between the Children and Family Centres and the Integrated Youth Support Service, the Authority are looking to work in a more collaborative way to deliver the best outcomes for all Children and Young People. All Providers we use for this new contract must demonstrate their ability to work in inclusive, innovative, and collaborative ways both in terms of developing the integrated approach to the Youth Support Service.

The Youth Support Service will operate through a ‘hub and spoke model’ with a strong presence in each local area. A core Specialist Hub will deliver statutory support services, as outlined on pages 10 and 11, across the County, including targeted outreach. The Locality Hubs and Core Specialist Hub will work together to provide timely and effective interventions for young people as early as possible. This will include connecting young people into existing community offers.