National schemes to tackle youth unemployment are not working, the group representing English councils has said.
The LGA said the current system is over-complicated, with 35 different national schemes across 13 different age boundaries costing £15bn a year.
Research by the LGA also shows a drop of 8% in the number of young people in England who started a scheme last year compared with three years ago.
The government has insisted it is not complacent about youth unemployment.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said 50,000 fewer jobless young people are getting help from job schemes today, than was the case three years ago, despite long-term youth unemployment remaining stubbornly high.
"Start Quote
End Quote David Simmonds Local Government Association"It's clear that nationally driven attempts to tackle youth unemployment aren't working"
Programmes include apprenticeships, the Work Programme, which gives personalised support to welfare claimants who need more help looking for and staying in work, and Youth Contracts, which create opportunities including apprenticeships and work experience for 18-24 year olds.
'Meddling'The LGA added that not only is the national system too complicated, but that "meddling" by successive governments has made the situation worse.
For example, the LGA claims that only 27% of 16 and 17-year-olds starting the government's Youth Contract were helped into training or work.
David Simmonds, chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said: "It's clear that nationally driven attempts to tackle youth unemployment aren't working.
"Many young people tell us that... finding a scheme that's right for them is a real challenge.
"While there are a number of good initiatives, government has side-lined councils and incentivised a series of services like schools, colleges and third sector providers to work in isolation of each other, with no clarity on who is responsible for leading the offer to young people on the ground.
"We think by aligning what's happening in local government with many of these schemes, we could get a lot more young people into work than is the case at the moment," he added.
'Own the problem'The LGA is using the data from the national schemes to highlight what it sees as progress at the local level.
For example, it claims that in a locally-based scheme in Newcastle and Gateshead, 47% of participants who were previously categorised as Neet (not in employment, education or training) were successfully helped into a job or a training course.
"Start Quote
End Quote Liam Byrne Shadow work and pensions secretaryMinisters need to act now to introduce a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee to get any young person out of work for more than a year into a paying job - one they would be required to take"
"We know the level of success that local organisations, such as councils, businesses and education providers, can achieve when working together, but this is being hampered by successive centrally-driven government approaches," Mr Simmonds said.
"We would now urge government to give local authorities and their partners the powers to 'own the problem' and become the link between young people and local employers," he added.
The LGA also points to an example in Cornwall, where a scheme called Cornwall Works was set up by Jobcentre Plus and Cornwall Council.
Under the scheme, a range of local organisations, projects and services were brought together to help young unemployed people find work.
The LGA says the model has helped Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly keep youth unemployment consistently below national levels - in November 2012, youth unemployment was 6.5%, compared with 7.1% nationally.
Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said David Cameron's government had "comprehensively failed young people".
"The Work Programme has missed every single one of its performance targets. The Youth Contract is on course to miss its targets by 92%.
"Ministers need to act now to introduce a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee to get any young person out of work for more than a year into a paying job - one they would be required to take."
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "This report fails to recognise that despite youth unemployment being a big challenge for a decade, the level has fallen by 38,000 since last year, and the number of young people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has fallen for 14 consecutive months.
"We're not complacent about the challenge in tackling this problem and through Jobcentre Plus we're already working locally with businesses and councils to help young people into work.
"Our Youth Contract alone will offer help to nearly 500,000 young people over three years."
He added that a new traineeship programme would be launched in the autumn to help those without the right experience or qualifications to get an apprenticeship or a job.
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