Everyday the youth sector plays a vital role in keeping children and young people safe — but too often, the systems around it make this harder than it needs to be. New evidence from the YEF Toolkit shows that youth clubs can reduce offending by 13%, improve school engagement by 6%, and strengthen community connectedness by 15%. Yet access to youth provision remains uneven, funding is fragmented, and youth workers are not consistently included in safeguarding responses.

To help address these barriers, we’ve published new ‘Youth sector policy and violence prevention’ guidance, setting out six practical, evidence‑based system changes that would make it easier to deliver effective support to children and young people aged 10–17 who are vulnerable to violence. The guidance is designed for policymakers across England and Wales.
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