What happens when youth work leaves the building and goes to where young people actually are?
For Kelly Prince, Head of Youth Work at The Dome, detached youth work has always been about something simple but powerful: showing up.
Detached youth work means meeting young people in the places they choose to spend time; whether that’s a park, a street corner, a local shop or somewhere else within their community.
There are no reception desks, timetables or sign-up forms. Instead, youth workers build relationships through consistency, conversation and trust.
And for Kelly, this isn’t just something she has learned through her career. It’s something she experienced herself.
As a teenager, Kelly spent evenings hanging around her local community, taking risks and making choices that her parents weren’t always happy about. Years later, those experiences would shape the way she understood young people, their environments and the importance of having trusted adults around them.
At 18, Kelly became a detached youth worker herself and quickly discovered just how powerful the role could be.
“You can’t do this work from an office. You have to feel the pavement under your feet.”
Kelly Prince, Head of Youth Work, The Dome
Why being there matters
Detached youth work is fundamentally about presence.
By being where young people are, youth workers can develop relationships that might never happen within a traditional youth work setting. They become familiar faces, people young people know will turn up, listen and treat them with respect.
That trust can create opportunities for conversations that might otherwise never happen.
It can also give youth workers a unique understanding of what is happening within a community. From changing friendship groups and emerging tensions to places where young people feel safe or where risks may be developing.
This makes detached youth work an important part of early intervention and safeguarding, helping youth workers understand not just the individual young person, but the wider environment around them.
And sometimes, it’s the smallest moments that matter most.
A conversation. Remembering someone’s name. Noticing that they’re quieter than usual. Walking alongside them for five minutes.
Over time, those moments can build the trust that allows a young person to open up, make a different choice or see an opportunity they hadn’t considered before.
From the streets of Crewe to The Dome
At The Dome, we believe youth work should meet young people where they are – both literally and emotionally.
Our detached youth work forms an important part of our commitment to reaching young people across Crewe, particularly those who may not yet feel ready or able to walk through the doors of a youth centre.
But there is much more to Kelly’s story. From her own experiences as a teenager, to the history of detached youth work, the impact of COVID-19, contextual safeguarding and the moments of trust that make the work so powerful.
As Kelly puts it, detached youth work isn’t simply a method of delivering youth services.
It’s a mindset.
A belief that young people deserve to be seen, heard and supported where they are. Not just where we want them to be.
Kelly has written about all of this in her latest Substack, The Power of Detached Youth Work.
Read Kelly’s full article on Substack: https://kellyprince1.substack.com/p/the-power-of-detached-youth-work?r=8rzpdu&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Author: Kelly Prince
About Kelly Prince
Kelly Prince is Head of Youth Work at The Dome Youth Zone, leading our youth work team and championing approaches that put young people at the heart of everything we do.
[Find out more about youth work at The Dome https://thedomeyouthzone.org/get-involved/vacancies/]