Britain’s youth service, established half a century ago, is steeling itself for some heavy cuts from the coalition government. And this is bad news for young people facing drug problems. Sam Hart reports.
Youth work is in crisis. Heads of youth services and charities are warning of brutal cuts in funding: virtually every local authority in the UK surveyed by the magazine Children and Young People Now said the axe was set to fall on its youth work provision – with potentially devastating consequences for young people. Experts are warning that the loss could mean a severing of vital support to young substance misusers.