YOUTH WORK
EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE IN
SCOTLAND
Measuring the Impact of Youth Work
In 'Round 4' of CashBack for Communities funding, youth organisations across the country are taking part in gathering data on young people's wellbeing using a set of indicators shared by all professions working with children and young people as part of the Getting it Right for Every Child Framework. To help understand the role and impact of youth work in relation to the CashBack for Communities outcomes young people were asked to share how they feel when they are taking part in the youth activity, at school and at home. This was achieved by rating the Wellbeing (SHANARRI) indicators on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 5 (very) for how safe, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible or included to they feel in each setting. Below are the results from 2017 to 2019.
Wellbeing (SHANARRI) Results
2017 to 2019
The results show distinctions in how safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included participants feel while taking part in youth activities, compared to how they feel in school or college and at home.
As part of the youth activity, young people on average feel very safe and included. Ratings for school are generally lower though still positive, while participants feel most nurtured at home, whilst slightly less active.
A closer look at young people at risk
One of the starkest results is that when we filtered for those that feel less safe at home (rating safety at home 1 - 3) it emerged that ratings within the youth work setting remained positive for all SHANARRI indicators. However ratings for both school and home were more negative with all weighted averages set below the mid point of 3.
This confirms that youth work is managing to provide a safe and inclusive space for young people despite circumstances where home and school are negative.
Therefore the evaluation and case studies seek to dig deeper into what it is youth work does to protect safety and promote inclusion for vulnerable young people.