Youth workers can have some of the strongest relationships with children affected by violence. They know their lives, personalities and interests. But new research suggests that when decisions are made about a child’s safety, those trusted adults can find themselves either sidelined from safeguarding decisions or asked to act in ways that erode the trust those very relationships depend on. 

In response, the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) is calling for updates to statutory guidance and legislation to give youth workers a clear, protected role in safeguarding children from violence and harm outside the home. 

Sidelined from decisions 

The research found wide variation in how youth workers are brought into formal child safeguarding systems across England and Wales. While some local authorities involve them multiple times a week, one in eight local authorities (13%) reported that youth workers’ involvement was rare or non-existent. 

The new YEF youth sector policy guidance draws on insights from two reviews about the role of youth workers and children’s services in safeguarding children affected by violence and extra-familial harm. 

When researchers observed inter-agency meetings directly, they sometimes found youth workers being ignored and contradicted, particularly by police and social care. In one example, a youth worker describes how they were sidelined at a safeguarding meeting: 

“I’ve been in meetings before and the social worker leading the meeting just reads out all my notes about a particular child to the group. Rather than saying ‘I’m not the best person to answer’ and calling on me — who has been seeing that young person three times a week — to lead the discussion.”  

Trust is compromised 

Youth workers also described being asked by statutory safeguarding partners to map out peer groups, find out who young people were spending time with, and report back on what they found. While sharing information to protect a child from harm is an important part of their role, the research highlights that these requests can go beyond what is needed to keep a child safe and risk undermining the relationships that make youth work effective. 

One youth worker described feeling pressured to share information by other agencies when they attended a Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) panel: 

“Sometimes I think there’s almost an ask to go and seek intel, to go and find information and, almost like, put surveillance on young people. Which I think is sometimes an easy ask, but because people don’trecognise actually… that’s not what we do.” 

Another described how that pressure had risked damaging trust with young people: 

“Previously there was a definite kind of… ‘You need to go and find out who’s who and where they’re spending time and put it in as intel.’ I’ve had previous examples of young people then being told, ‘[your youth worker] said that she saw you with X, Y and Z’ — and that completely ruins your relationship with that young person. Sometimes you kind of end up arguing with your own colleagues to say ‘no, I’m not going to do that.’” 

No clear role in law or guidance 

Part of the problem is structural: existing safeguarding guidance and legislation do not clearly define the role of youth workers in multi-agency safeguarding. 

In England, statutory safeguarding guidance makes only limited reference to youth workers, while youth work providers are not explicitly recognised in the legislation governing local safeguarding arrangements. And in Wales, youth services are referenced in some safeguarding guidance, but their role within multi-agency safeguarding arrangements is not clearly defined. 

As a result, how, when, and why youth workers are involved in safeguarding decisions depends on local systems and decision-makers rather than a consistent national framework. Without clear guidance, youth workers can either be overlooked altogether or drawn into activities that are at odds with the voluntary, consent-based nature of youth work. 

What needs to change 

The research shows that youth workers can play an important role in safeguarding meetings. They help partners understand wider patterns of harm linked to groups, places or local trends, and bring a focus on what young people need to stay safe, rather than defaulting to monitoring or sanctions.  

To strengthen the role of youth workers in protecting children from violence and harm outside the home, the YEF is calling for updates to statutory safeguarding guidance and, in England, legislation. 

Its new policy guidance, Youth sector policy and violence prevention, sets out what that should look like. National guidance should make clear when and how youth workers contribute to safeguarding decisions, protecting the voluntary and consent-based nature of youth work and ensuring they are not treated as extensions of the police or children’s social care. 

Where a youth worker has an established relationship with a child or young person involved in safeguarding processes, there should be a presumption that the youth worker is included in multi-agency discussions. Youth workers should also be able to exercise professional judgement about how they contribute, balancing safeguarding responsibilities with the need to maintain the trusted relationships that make their support effective. 

The YEF is also calling for dedicated training to help youth workers understand the legal safeguarding frameworks and manage tensions around trust, confidentiality and information sharing, whilst working with partner agencies to keep children safe from violence. 

Caleb Jackson, Head of Change for the Youth Sector at YEF, said: “Youth workers can be among the most important people in a child’s life. They are trusted adults chosen by children themselves, building relationships that help young people feel safe, heard and understood. They advocate for children’s needs, challenge racial bias when it arises, and help maximise protection for children on their terms. But often, formal safeguarding processes can push them to the margins. Training and changes to statutory guidance and legislation could help fix that. We need to establish a clearer, more consistent place for youth workers in the decisions that matter most.” 

Emma Norman, Director of Safer Futures at Catch22 says: “Trusted adults like youth workers, and voluntary sector practitioners bring invaluable and dynamic insight into the risks and circumstances of the children they support.  

“Across our Catch22 exploitation and violence prevention services, we know that they play an essential role in safeguarding children. However, to work more effectively, the role and value of youth worker expertise in multi-agency safeguarding partnerships should be strengthened.  

“We therefore very much welcome this new YEF youth sector policy guidance and its call to formalise youth work insight in safeguarding.” 

Download today 

The Youth Endowment Fund’s Youth sector policy and violence prevention guidance outlines six recommendations for policymakers and sector leaders to reduce children and young people’s involvement in violence.  

It’s available to download at: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/reports/youth-sector-policy-and-violence-prevention/