People-processing in youth welfare services: A cross-sectional approach

• Youth welfare services are identified as having four functions. • People-processing as a working method is emphasised in all youth welfare services. • People-processing confers the social status of a semi-independent youth who needs substantial support. This paper holistically sheds light on youth welfare services, drawing upon interviews with professionals working in youth, health, social and employment services and investigating their institutionally embedded professional practices and shared features. The 38 individual and group interviews with 73 professionals were analysed thematically to determine their priorities in their work and identify what is done with young people seeking help from their services. First, the services were identified as having four functions: (1) guidance, (2) authoritative decision-making, (3) psychosocial support and (4) everyday support. These functions are prioritised differently in the services, but the services are not limited to a single service feature. This typology demonstrates that young people often need more than one form of support for diverse aspects of their lives. Second, the interviews highlighted the working method of people-processing, understood as categorising, assessing and guiding clients to other services. While earlier research has understood people-processing as a feature of specific services or organisations, it is a central method in all services. The service system’s high client volumes and requirements for efficiency make it ill-suited to long-term, relationship-based work, and there is an incentive to keep young people moving on a service pathway and process them forward.