A new think tank has launched this month, the Centre for Young Lives, founded by former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield CBE.
She has teamed up with Citadel Director Jonathan Hopkins who joins the Centre as an Associate to help drive forward the political agenda for young people and families in an election year.
The challenges are great as the Centre addresses systemic issues like poverty, mental health, education and regional disparities.
The Centre’s focus spans from early intervention to empowering and advocating for vulnerable young people, in the design of policies and modelling practice.
Jonathan said:
“As the political parties prepare their manifestos and pledges for the next 5 years, we will see promises of a few ‘quick fixes’ alongside long-term solutions, not all of which will survive the electoral cycle and spending rounds.”
“Rather, the appetite for reform is based on what is known to work with young people, shaped by families across communities, informed by frontline practitioners and evidenced by data. This will help deliver now for young people, with long-lasting impact in their lives.”
Anne Longfield said:
“We need a new social contract with our vulnerable children and families. Without a plan and a properly evidence-base to meet their needs, we have a system that simply manages failure and waits until there’s a crisis before intervening.”
*The first report from the Centre for Young Live was published at its launch, on autism and neurodivergence as part of a ‘Child of the North’ series of research reports led by the N8 Research Partnership of Northern universities and others (2 February 2024).
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