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Anti-Social Services

New report giving young people’s views on social services

Social services are inaccessible and badly perceived by young people, according to the report Anti-Social Services, launched today by the charity Get Connected. Only 1 in 10 young people that contacted Get Connected with experience of social services thought they were good, with 75% finding the service poor or very poor.

In 2003, Get Connected collected the views of over 2,000 young people about services they had contacted for help with emotional or physical problems. These young people thought that the help they received from non-statutory services, such as telephone helplines, was three times as good as the help that social services gave them.

Young people also commented that they find it difficult to access help from social services, especially out of ‘normal’ office hours.

Justin Irwin, Director of the Charity said:

“Problems don’t stick to a timetable. Our figures show that young people are as likely to want to get help from social services in the evening as they are in the afternoon. Many young people that contact Get Connected out of office hours are often in extremely vulnerable situations – with half of them calling as they have run away, been kicked out, or have nowhere to stay. Over New Year and Christmas, problems often get even worse, yet the services available become increasingly limited.

Services have to be provided at times that are in the best interests of the children and young people who need them, and not in the interests of those providing them. It might be anti-social to adults, but it’s the only answer if we really want to protect the most vulnerable young people in the UK.”

Common criticisms of social services from young people are that everything takes too long, social workers are far too busy, and that it is not free to make contact with them. Other young people praise their individual social workers for being the first people to take them seriously.

The report details a number of recommendations, including altering the core hours of social service provision to children and young people, building on some of the excellent work that is being carried out by social service departments, and clarifying the boundaries of the services provided.

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Notes to editors:

1. The vision of Get Connected is that every young person in the UK can find the help they need to support their physical and emotional well-being.
2. Get Connected is a UK wide telephone and email helpline that finds young people the best help whatever the problem. Over 1,300 young people contact Get Connected every month about a range of issues including emotional problems, physical and mental health, sexuality, abuse and running away.
3. The ‘Anti-Social Services’ Report can be downloaded for free from http://www.getconnected.org.uk/publications
4. Statistics are derived from 2,035 pieces of feedback collected from users about other services. This included 1,806 comments from users, and 1,123 service ratings. There were 77 pieces of feedback about social services, 69 with comment, and 70 with a service rating. The main problem faced by those who gave this feedback was as follows: running away/nowhere to live 48%; family relationships 14%; sexual or physical abuse 9%; mental or physical health 6%.
5.  For more information about Get Connected please visit www.getconnected.org.uk
6. Available for interview: Dulcie Ireland, External Affairs Manager / Justin Irwin, Director, Get Connected, 020 8896 4774,