Connexions Program in England - Dissertation Example

Connexions Program in England Abstract This study explored the structure of the English social support system for the youth, generally referred to as connexions. This study was premised on the thesis that the connexion system remains a resourceful tool for the sustainable of the youthful generation but rigid operational structure has denied it the available opportunities for expansion. The study sought a comprehensive understanding of connexions within the context of social support. Towards this objective the structure of the program was studies and the various linkages to the program established. These linkages were viewed in terms of effectiveness, strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and available opportunities for expansion. These aspects of the study enjoined the use of available resources that bore significant relationship to the program. The main objectives for this study were: 1) To determine the nature and operational structure of connections within the context of social support. 2) To determine the available strengths, challenges and weaknesses in the overall structure of connexions. 3) To suggest possible amendments to the organizational and operational structure of connections with a view of enhancing harmony and efficiency. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and interview schedules. Generally the research found out that the British connexions system is an integral tool for youth development but has not explored all available opportunities for development. Connexions Program in England Introduction The system of connexions as practiced in England was mooted out of the realization that it was possible to curb youthful joblessness by mainstreaming them within the government’s structure of development. The system basically manages the transition of the youth between the ages of 13 and 19 with the long term desire to achieve a holistic kind of development. Available information suggests that the system has managed the lapse of the youthful population into crime by a decidedly large percentage. The youthful program is shaped within the framework of social development that recognizes the comparatively higher percentage of youth within the English population. This program has been instrumental in the management of social conflicts that afflict the youth. For instance, recent times have seen the development of support packages within the overall frame work of the system which aims at rescuing the youth caught up in the developing new systems of crime. The merit of this study was to provide a clear understanding of the connexions systems with the objective of pointing out specific areas within the structure that might need specialized improvement for the purposes of efficiency and harmony. This study will be important for policy makers to determine various kinds of adjustments within their systems that could impact positively on the nature and structure of connexions as a system. One way through which this could be achieved is the proposal of budgetary adjustments so that the most sensitive areas receive preferential concern than other areas of the program. Few studies have undertaken a thorough understanding of the operational structure of connexions. The fact the rate of joblessness among the youth continue to engage the debates of England is enough proof that studies have to train their focus on the most appropriate angles of response to that would place the social system on the path of recovery and efficiency. Moreover past interventionist policies by the government to adjust the operational structure of this system have based most of their policies on ideology and political whim rather than on the practical dimensions of the program. The study focused on Youth Connexions Hertfordshire as an organization that targeted the youth, providing them with a variety of services including information, support, guidance and opportunities for safety and personal development. The organization was chosen for this study due to its vibrancy and capacity to handle individuals belonging to any one of six categories or teams including persons with learning difficulty or disability. Project Methodology This study attempted to disclose the internal structure of the connexions system as it operates in England with the aim of pointing out areas of strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting possible remedies to some of the challenges that the program has faced since its inception. Objectives The general objective of this project was to establish the strengths and weaknesses in the connexions program as practiced in England. The specific objectives of the program were: To determine the nature and operational structure of connections within the context of social support. To determine the available strengths, challenges and weaknesses in the overall structure of connexions. To suggest possible amendments to the organizational and operational structure of connections with a view of enhancing harmony and efficiency. Towards these objectives the study sought various sources and materials that are relative to the subject matter. A thorough review of literature was conducted with the aim of establishing the salient opinions and information that relate to the connexion program in England. These pieces of information were compared for the purposes of obtaining the most comprehensive picture of the English connexion system. The selection of these pieces of literature was done in accordance with the specific objectives of the study as mentioned earlier. Studies were sought relating to the question of the nature and operational structure of connexions within the context of social support. Other studies were sought with regard to the question of the available strengths, challenges, and weaknesses in the overall structure of connexions, and on possibilities of amending the system for the sake of harmony and efficiency within the meaning of the second and third objectives respectively. Some of the studies that were sought relating to these subjects include government publications. Specifically demographic information was sought from the relevant authorities with the intention of establishing linkages between the claims presented by various studies and the official figures available. Other sources of information included published dissertations and theses which bore on the subject. Some of the claims presented in this study were important in the process of establishing variations within the systems of information as they bare on the subject of connexions. Primary resourceful information was also from structured questionnaires and informal interviews scheduled from selected sources. For the survey, a group of young individuals (age 16-25 years) were recruited and subjected to training to become young advisers. The training was aimed at teaching the advisers how to simulate social action so as to demonstrate to leaders how best community leaders can engage the youth in improving their communities, decision making and providing better services. Youthful respondents were sought and asked to respond to specific questions that were fielded regarding the subject matter. Interview schedules were equally conducted among 16 respondents. Mystery shopping expeditions in one-stop shops were conducted within various Connexions centers, the trained young advices being the participants. The experiences had by the young advisors as they visited various one-stop shop during the mystery visits were noted in each occasion. Among the areas of interest in the study involved accessibility, environment, consent and confidentiality offered when accessing services at the one stop shops. Results and Discussions The information obtained from the questionnaires was synthesized and presented in form tables as shown below: 1. Where is your closest Connextions One Stop Shop?   answered question 16   skipped question 0   Response Percent Response Count Borehamwood 6.3% 1 Cheshunt 6.3% 1 Hatfield 43.8% 7 Hemel Hemstead 12.5% 2 Stevenage 6.3% 1 Watford 6.3% 1 Don't Know 18.8% 3 DownloadCreate Chart2. In the last year how often have you visited your local One Stop Shop?   answered question 16   skipped question 0   Response Percent Response Count More than 20 times   0.0% 0 10 to 20 times 12.5% 2 Less than 10 times 25.0% 4 Never 62.5% 10 DownloadCreate Chart3. Which of the following services does your One Stop Shops provide? (tick all that apply)   answered question 11   skipped question 5   Response Percent Response Count Sexual health services 63.6% 7 Employment services 54.5% 6 Mental Health services 27.3% 3 Accommodation help 36.4% 4 General Advice and help 90.9% 10 DownloadCreate Chart4. If you have used any of the services provided by the One Stop Shops, how did you rate them?   answered question 9   skipped question 7   Response Percent Response Count Excellent 33.3% 3 Good 33.3% 3 Fair 22.2% 2 Poor   0.0% 0 Not at all useful 11.1% 1 DownloadCreate Chart5. Why don't you use your local One Stop Shop?   answered question 15   skipped question 1   Response Percent Response Count Don't know where it is 40.0% 6 Don't feel any reason to 53.3% 8 Not sure of the services they offer 13.3% 2 Negative feedback from friends   0.0% 0 Download6. Is there anything that might encourage you to use One Stop shops in the future?   answered question 1   skipped question 15 As can be seen from this analysis, most of the respondents (43.8%) stayed close to Hatfield (See table 1). The analysis also shows that the respondents each at least could access the services of at least one youth connexion centre. Only 18.8% of the respondents had no idea where the closest centre could be found from their residences. Of the respondents featured in the survey, 62.5% admitted never having visited their local One Stop Shop (Table 2). Twenty five percent of the respondents had visited the shops less that 10 times a year while a meager 12.5% had visited between 10 and twenty times over the same period. On the other hand, no respondent ever visited the shop more than 20 times to get one kind of service or another and a whooping 62.5% percent never managed to visit the facilities. This shows that visitation of the shops by youths is quite low against what would normally be expected from such an important facility. Of the various services meant to be offered by the one stop shops, the most common service is General Advice and help with 90.9% (Table 4). This was followed by sexual health services at about 64%. The service least offered by the centers was mental health services at 27.3%. The services offered by the one stop shops were generally above average as about 66% of the respondents admitted that the service that they received were good at least. Only 11% of the respondents stated that the services offered by the institutions were not useful. This indicates that the shops widely deliver good services to users in spite of the generally lower level of visitation. However, many youths also established that 53.3% of youths do not visit the shops because they find no reason to do so (See table 5). Yet again, 40% of the respondents stated that they did not visit the centers owing to the fact that they knew not the locations of the centers. From the simulations, it was noted that a number of one-stop shops offered services that did not match the expectations of their clients in terms of confidentiality, comfort, consent, environment and accessibility. Some of the shops however proved otherwise. From these findings it might be argued that there is a kind of ambivalence within the beneficiary community about the level of confidence and satisfaction by the services. Various factors are likely to have contributed to this ambivalence. From the results, it was discovered that a majority of the young respondents expressed little satisfaction with the system. The most plausible explanation of this is that the younger people among the youth might be generally not aware of the services offered by one-stop shops. The other explanation is that the younger category of the youth might be more dependent on their parents and therefore might not be as needy as the elderly category. Conclusion The organizational structure of connexions is such that all the needs of the youth are brought together under one umbrella unit (Bekaert 2005, p165), and this might result in some looseness of control in certain aspects of the program. There have been challenges with budgetary allocations in this program with the result that the services provided are severely rationed. This rationing has often been based on factors such as age and gender. It is therefore possible that the male and elderly youth expressed lower levels of satisfaction and support because they represent the lower cadre of priority. The preferential policies have often tended to favor the female gender and the younger ages at the expense of the elderly groups. In 2004 over 3 million youth graduated from the special category of joblessness towards education and jobs in line with the policies and practices of this program, (Department for Work and Pensions 2004). It is possible that there existed some preferential policies within this selection process that could not augur well with a large number of the youth across England. Many of them might have felt that all the programs were piece meal and with some political underpinnings. The operational structure of the connexion has been studies within the context of human development. Widespread opinions have suggested that the system requires constant revamping so that it might align with the changing aspects of youthful life. From the findings among those who said they wanted reforms in the connexions system included 78 male youths, 50 female youth, while 22 remained undecided. There are also concerns that population factors and the stability of the family unit have not been factored sufficiently within the general structure of connexions. According to some studies there exists an apparent disconnect between the institutions that manage demographic systems with those that deal with matters of development (Roche 2004, p97). The development of the external social factors within the English social system have shown the connexion program may have to spread its wings to encompass the realities within the context of unexpected social shocks. England has not solved precisely the question of illegal immigrants. There have been reports that the numbers of immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia have continued to swell to levels that exert significant pressure on the country’s general population. One main objective for the establishing of the connexions system was for the purposes of checking on the possibilities of reducing the possibility of youthful unrest. This was to be achieved through the formation of multi agency groups to manage the youth, (Roche 2004, p97). It was basically a system of social control with which England could finally engage emergent trends of crime that have significantly filtered into its social fabric from her associations with countries such as France, Germany, the United States of America, and the African continent. Scholars have argued that there exists a kind of disconnect between the connexions program, and they have pointed out various kinds of fragmented approaches which they say could have been managed better through Children Trusts as it happens elsewhere in Europe, (Hine and Wood 2009, p177). The kind of services that are offered by connexions have also come under sharp criticism from the sections of scholars who blame the system of progressively creating a dependant society that might disable the spirit of enterprise and innovation in the English society. Those who have argued this way have cited communities among the affluent regions in the gulf who are characterized by what sociologists have termed as institutionalized slackness (Ritzer, 2004 p. 127). Defenders of the system however have been quick to point out that the system other than actualizing the constitutional rights of the citizenry has been important in the cultivation of nationalism and patriotism within the youthful citizenry. This, they argue relates with the main objective of the system which is to safeguard the welfare of young people, (Great Britain Department of Health 2006, p65). Expert opinions from the sociological perspective were that the system has remained largely static. The argument presented was that the past decade alone has witnessed tremendous local and global developments that have increased the scope of humanity’s social programs (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2001, p. 89). The program has basically been a one way kind of communication although the government has sought to defend itself with the argument that interactional sites have always been on hand to handle the emerging social challenges within the youthful fraternity (Canny, Green and Maguire 2001, p10). Other pieces of information obtained from the interview was that there needs to open up more avenues for interaction with the youth so that their real problems might be addressed. Against the criticism that the system is structurally flawed, some people have argued that the services of connexions are tailored to suit individual needs, (Great Britain Department of Health 2006, p65). There were also suggestions from some studies that the country that the program needs to be encompass the different categories of social life that situates the afflictions of the youth beyond material needs (Britton, Coles and Hicks 2004, p3). Those who subscribed to this school of thought opined that the essence of social engineering should begin from a nuclear aspect of social change towards a more general approach. In criticizing the system some scholars have argued that it has not made use of all available resources within and beyond the borders to enrich its missions and objectives. Suggestions have been that the connexions should explore avenues for more funding from such systems as corporate social responsibilities. The challenges of the youth connexions program are a factor of poor policies and contradictory political interventions. The rigidity of the system has shielded beneficiaries from possibilities of attaining the basic needs for which the program was designed to deliver. The absence of active expansionist programs has retained the program in a stagnant form that has made it difficult to explore the available opportunities of expansion. Nevertheless the program remains a highly potential tool of social control and one that can effect upward social mobility among the youth, but only if structural adjustment programs are put in place. This study therefore accepts the hypothesis that the youth connexions program in England has great potential but needs targeted revamping to enhance its form and efficiency. Recommendations All staff working in one stop shops should be well trained and equipped for the tasks that they have to perform so as to deliver services professionally. Meeting should be held between connexions leaders and children’s services representatives so as to ensure that youths get to benefit from the connexion centers. Case studies should be carried out to showcase the practical potential and impact of the connextions in England. The government of England should sponsor programs that aim at transforming the program in line with suggestions carried out in this study. Challenges and reflections Time and financial restraints made it difficult to explore more resources that could have enriched the form and information of this study. The youth advisors found it difficult in some cases to access the shops that they were assigned to visit. References Barry, M. (2005) Youth policy and social inclusion: Critical debates with young people. London, UK: Routledge. Bekaert, S. (2005) Adolescents and sex: The handbook for professionals working with young people. London, UK: Radcliffe Publishing. Britton, L., Coles, B. & Hicks, L. (2004) Building better connections: Interagency work and the Connexions Service. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press. Canny, A., Green, A. E. & Maguire, M. J. (2001) Keeping track: Mapping and tracking vulnerable young people. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press. Department for Work and Pensions. (2004) Opportunity for all: Sixth annual report 2004. Norwich, Germany: The Stationery Office. Great Britain Department of Health. (2006) Working together to safeguard children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Norwich, Germany: The Stationery Office. Hine, J. & Wood, J. (2009) Work with young people: Theory and policy for practice. London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd. Ritzer, G. (2004). Handbook of social problems: a comparative international perspective. London: SAGE. Roche, J. (2004) Youth in society: Contemporary theory, policy and practice. London, UK: SAGE. May, M., Page, R. M. & Brunsdon, E. (2001). Understanding social problems: issues in social policy. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. Read More