From it’s inception in 2002, through the development and implementation stages and continuing through the review process in 2009, it has been important to hold onto the broad ethos at the heart of the Quality Standards Framework. At its heart it is a peer-led, developmental process that aims to continuously improve the quality, consistency and effectiveness of local youth services.

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Peer- Led

By being peer-led, the framework begins with the assumption that there is no panel of experts out there in the ether who know better than the rest of us. The young people, the volunteer and paid youth workers, and the managers who are engaged in and central to our organisations are the experts, and the quality standards process draws from that pool of expertise in developing and implementing the framework. The original Consultative Panels, the Quality Core Group, the Peer Assessor panel have all been made up of youth service managers, administrators, financial officers, senior youth workers and volunteers from within our own services.

Developmental

The purpose of the Quality Standards Framework has always been to foster a culture of continuous improvement within local youth services in order to enhance the experience of young people engaging with those services. The standards identify the elements that make up a quality youth service, and the assessment process provides a method of monitoring and measuring the performance of the organisation against those standards. The presentation of the award is simply recognition of the process the organisation has gone through, the work done and the progress made.

The process of carrying out a self-assessment assists a youth service to identify where there strengths lie and to identify those elements of the service that they need to develop or improve. Preparing for a peer assessment creates the impetus for change where it is necessary and to act upon the findings from the self assessment. Each youth service at the end of the assessment process, regardless of the outcome of the peer assessment, will be presented with a Quality Improvement Action Plan. This plan clearly identifies any outstanding areas that need to be addressed and provides the organisation with an ongoing agenda for growth and development.

Based on our experience of supporting organisations through the self-assessment process and of carrying out assessments, we recommend that each Local Youth Service establish a Quality Working Group. This group, made up of relevant staff / key volunteers / Board members in the organisation, should act as the conduit through which the organisation prepares for the assessment process. The rationale for the working group model, apart from sharing the workload involved, is that by sharing responsibility for ‘quality’ beyond any one individual it helps to promote that culture of continuous improvement across the whole organisation.

The involvement of all stakeholders in the QSF process is crucial if it is to lead to lasting and significant change. Many of the policy standards, for example, require that each policy and / or set of procedures are developed through a transparent and inclusive process of consultation i.e. that includes young people, volunteers, staff, Board, and any other relevant groups / individuals.