Local Authorities    Young People

1.GOVERNMENT AGENDAS

The services enable objectives to be met in terms of a number of KEY LOCAL AND CENTRAL INITIATIVES:

• The Preventative Strategy
• 'Every Child Matters'
• E-Government
• Safeguarding
• The Youth Matters Green Paper
• E-learning strategy (e-PEP)
• Joined Up Services
• Looked after children
• Shared services

2. LOCAL INTEGRATION

The Kooth services are different from other online counselling services in that they are localised. This means that local authorities can provide information and content which is relevant to their local population of young people.

3. CASH SAVINGS

In Stockport, early identification of problems with young people has enabled significant savings be made. For example, in its first year of operation in 2004/05 the Kooth.com service delivered savings of almost £870k in public expenditure.

4. A WEALTH OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND REPORTING CAPABILITIES

A great deal of information is gathered about users and is used in order to ensure that:
-the proper level of support is provided and that other agencies are involved as appropriate
- the supply of services is matched to demand
-Local Authorities gain an insight into the main issues impacting young people in their area

We measure the performance of the Kooth in a very detailed way, including feedback questionnaires and outcomes (planned & achieved) from case notes

The Kooth Case Notes system matches the Every Child Matters CAF form with the counsellor able to update information as it is disclosed whilst talking to a young person via chat or messaging.