Page contents
- What is Targeted Youth Support?
- How can Targeted Youth Support help?
- What to expect from Targeted Youth Support
- How to access support from Targeted Youth Support
What is Targeted Youth Support?
Targeted Youth Support (TYS) works with young people who need support for a variety of needs, in different areas of their life. We hope that by working with you and your child or children we can provide support towards positive changes at home, school or in the community. TYS work with young people between the ages of 11 and 18 years.
How can TYS help?
TYS will help by supporting to build resilience and develop strategies to work through life's challenges. Some of the areas that Targeted Youth Support can focus on, are:
- Managing feelings and emotions
- Building positive family relationships
- Healthy relationships
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Support to build resilience
- Peer influence and decision making
- Understanding identity and diversity
- Support for emerging mental health needs such as anxiety, low mood and self-harm
- Support with attending education or training
- Substance use and misuse education
- Exploitation awareness and prevention
- Online safety
- Preventing criminal and anti-social behaviours
- Support for parenting teenagers, including one-to-one and group programmes.
What can families expect from TYS?
Following a referral, we will start by meeting with you and your child or children to understand what is going on. We will also do an assessment to identify your needs and develop a Family Action Plan. This is your plan and is designed to meet the specific needs of your family. It will detail what you would like to be different and how you can be supported to achieve this.
Team Around the Family
We will work alongside other services who have a role in supporting your child or children. These services make up what we call a 'Team around the Family' (TAF). The 'team' will meet every couple of months to review progress with your family action plan. At this review, we will also check that these services are doing what they said they would do to support you.
What commitment will TYS give me and my family?
We will have one-to-one meetings with your child or children every two weeks, usually more at the beginning of our work. Regular meetings help us to get to know you and your child or children and support you in the best way possible.
We will arrange TAF meetings and keep in touch with the other professionals supporting you.
We will work with you until the family action plan is completed and you have made the changes that you felt were needed.
What is expected of me and my family?
Young people need to consent to working with TYS. It is important that you speak to your child or children, to let them know what you are worried about and how you think we can help. We ask that families work with us, as this is the only way that we can achieve positive change. We help you to identify what you want to be different and support you to achieve that. We ask that you are open to participating in this process.
As part of this, it is important that you and your child or children attend regular meetings with us. These meetings will help us get to know you and support you in the best way.
How can I get support from TYS?
If you feel that a young person would benefit from support from Targeted Youth Support, you can ask for help through the Surrey Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPA). Or ask a professional working with your family to complete a request for support form. They may complete an Early Help Assessment to attach to the request.
For a professional to refer, you should have agreed that you would welcome the extra help. You will also have given consent to share your information with TYS and the services that they work with. Professionals can refer to the Effective Family Resilience levels of need document to find out if a family would meet the criteria for TYS.
How do I find out about local services in my area?
The Family Information Service directory allows you to search for services and activities for families with children 0 to 19 years (up to 25 for those with special educational needs or disabilities).
