Keeping Them Off The Streets : A Youth Work Story

Keeping Them Off The Streets is a remarkable account of over forty years’ experience in the field of youth work. It recounts not just personal experience but also reflects on the policy changes that have accompanied successive governments and new developments in sociological research, their efficacy and implications.

Keeping Them Off The Streets is a remarkable account of over forty years’ experience in the field of youth work. It recounts not just personal experience but also reflects on the policy changes that have accompanied successive governments and new developments in sociological research, their efficacy and implications. It tracks Tim Caley’s career from Sheffield housing estate through the challenges of delivering a successful youth service at a County Level, the world of the Ofsted inspector, and finally a much sought-after private consultant in the youth services field. 

The book provides a new and original perspective on its subject matter. It combines sound research and intellectual analysis with a personal memoir of the issues facing teenagers, then and now.  It is a mixture of policy, personality and practice.  Its author writes from the prism of wide personal experience: as a teacher, youth club leader, detached youth worker, County Youth Officer, Ofsted inspector, management consultant and government special adviser. But the book is not an academic study: it fills a gap in the literature between university academic-led policy essays and theories and the many disparate publications on local practice or organisational history. It is hugely readable - using humour, anecdote and characters to illuminate its messages. Its aim is to inspire, challenge and remind its audience of the benefits and continued importance of work with young people. It is thought-provoking, easy-to-read yet written with eloquence and passion throughout.