New technology is wrong way to reach recession-hit young people

Report puts forward blueprint for legal advice services for teenagers and young adults

Twittering and telephone services are not the way to reach young people in desperate need of advice about homelessness, unemployment and debt, according to a report published today by Youth Access and the Law Centres Federation. Recession-hit young people prefer to get advice about their problems from a face-to-face service targeted specifically at them.

As youth unemployment soars and young people’s need for advice on homelessness, benefits and debt reaches unprecedented levels, policies which direct resources to generic advice providers, telephone advice and internet-based services are likely to leave many young people without the help and support they need to overcome their problems.

Young people are more likely to have civil legal problems than the rest of the population, says the report, Rights Within Reach. However, many don’t get the help they need. Every year, an estimated 200,000 young people try but fail to get legal advice with severe consequences for those individuals and for society as a whole.

The report, based on research with advice agencies and young people, puts forward a blueprint for effective legal advice services for young people. Its key findings include:

• Young people primarily want and need advice face-to-face, rather than by mobile or online.
• A strong one to one relationship between adviser and young person is vital to improving the young person’s chances in the long-term.
• Advice should be provided in a place where young people already go for help such as youth drop-in centres, rather than legal centres. 

Legal advice can change young people’s lives, as Keiley, a young woman helped by an outreach legal advice service for young people, testifies:

“Within five years of being kicked out of home, I graduated with a law degree; this would have never been possible were it not for the advice, representation and guidance from my legal adviser who got me housed and then kept in touch.”

The report’s other findings include:

• Young people’s participation in the planning of advice services appears to improve their accessibility and impact.
• Advisers need to have both the ability to engage young people and sound legal knowledge of young people’s rights and entitlements.
• Services work best where youth agency staff offer holistic advice and support to young people, with legal advisers concentrating on legal remedies.

Julie Bishop, Director of the Law Centres Federation, says:
“Legal advice can change young people’s lives, but only if it is delivered in the right way. Twittering and telephone services don’t provide real solutions. This report shows how to provide an effective and affordable service to help young people cope with the recession.”

Barbara Rayment, Director of Youth Access, says: 
“Young people both need and benefit from legal advice far more than the general adult population, yet they are considerably less likely to successfully obtain it. In this recession, where young people are hit hardest of all, the message is clear that young people need specialist targeted services to help them tackle their problems.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. For more information, a copy of the report, case studies and access to interviewees, please call:

Mandy Wilkins, Young People’s Project Manager, Law Centres Federation
020 7428 4419 / 07974 227332

Steve Lee, Policy Officer, Youth Access
020 8772 9900 / 07966 739308

2. The full report, Rights Within Reach: Developing effective legal advice outreach services for young people, is also at: Young Peoples Project. 

3. Youth Access is the national membership organisation for a network of 200 youth information, advice and counselling services, which deal with over 1 million enquiries a year on issues as diverse as sexual health, mental health, relationships, homelessness, benefits and debt.
Further information: Youth Access

4. Law Centres Federation is one of the largest providers of specialist legal advice and representation in the UK. It is the national membership organisation for a network of 55 Law Centres which provide free independent legal advice and representation to the most disadvantaged members of society.

5. Note on figures:

• Estimate of 200,000 young people annually trying but failing to get legal advice calculated by Youth Access using data from the 2004 Civil and Social Justice Survey and checked by the Legal Services Research Centre.