The project "Competences – Quality – Quantity in Work with Young People at Risk" will be implemented jointly by a partnership of Riga City municipality and two NGOs - "JES" (Brussels) and "St. Michael's Parish Youth Project" (Dublin) from 1st February 2019 until 31st January 2020. The aim of the project is to develop sustainable education, training and support system in municipalities for youth workers working with youth at risk, based on local realities in international context. In order to achieve it, the following objectives have been set: 1) Explore youth work realities working with youth at risk within local communities involved; 2) Promote the value of quality youth work with youth at risk among decision makers; 3) Develop sustainable training system highlighting core competences of youth workers working with youth at risk; 4) Provide international dimension for experience exchange and quality assurance working with youth at risk. The project will result in development of a cyclic youth work model with young people at risk. Therefore, in order to ensure a holistic approach, the activities are structured in 2 pillars. Pillar I: Development of quality youth work in municipalities by implementing 4 international meetings (two day long each) for decision makers. The work will result in a clear vision in every involved municipality regarding the place of work with young people at risk in the whole youth work system of the municipality, as well as resources available for it and evaluation indicators. During their meetings the decision makers will address the same topics as the youth workers involved in pillar. Pillar II: - A set of 3 trainings (3 days each) for youth workers already working with young people at risk through mobile youth work methods (in the project the term mobile youth work is used to generalize outreach, detached and street youth work methods). Each training will address one of the topics: - outreach and building contact with young people at risk; - individual support for young people at risk (served individually or in groups); - resocialization of young people (reflection, reality and resilience); - Trainings will be followed by a one month “praxis” phase during which involved youth workers put gained knowledge into use in their local reality; - After each “praxis” there’s a 2 day international evaluation meeting to reflect on the training program and applicability of the gained knowledge; - In the end of the project a dissemination event is planned in every involved country to share the knowledge with other youth workers who work with young people at risk.
The project "Competences – Quality – Quantity in Work with Young People at Risk" has been implemented jointly by a partnership of Riga City municipality and two NGOs - "JES" (Brussels) and "St. Michael's Parish Youth Project" (Dublin) from 1st February 2019 until 29th February 2020. The aim of the project was to develop sustainable education, training and support system in municipalities for youth workers working with youth at risk, based on local realities in international context. In order to achieve it, the following objectives were set: 1) Explore youth work realities working with youth at risk within local communities involved; 2) Promote the value of quality youth work with youth at risk among decision makers; 3) Develop sustainable training system highlighting core competences of youth workers working with youth at risk; 4) Provide international dimension for experience exchange and quality assurance working with youth at risk. The project resulted in development of recommendations for involved cities regarding development and empowering streetwork and youth work with young people at risk in general. A model for training of youth workers working with young people at risk was set up, too. Since, the project had two main target groups (youth workers and the decision makers), the activities were structured in 2 pillars. Pillar I: Development of quality youth work in municipalities by implementing 4 international meetings (two or three working days each) for decision makers (coordinators, managers and civil servants). During their meetings the decision makers addressed the same topics as the youth workers (on a generalised level), explored existing and necessary support structures for efficient implementation of work with young people at risk, as well as had several joint sessions with youth workers. Pillar II was comprised of 4 short-term mobilities of youth workers involved in work with young people at risk (in this project we use term mobile youth work to generalize outreach, detached and street youth work methods). It was initially planned that the first 3 training activities will be focusing on one of the following topics each (outreach and building contact with young people at risk; individual support for young people at risk (served individually or in groups); resocialization of young people) and that a 2 day evaluation meeting will introduce 2nd and 3rd mobility. In reality the topics were mixed among the training activities in order to maximize and set up a natural flow for participants' learning. Evaluation activities were spread evenly among the programme of 2nd and 3rd mobility. After the trainings involved youth workers had an individual “praxis” in their local realities during which they put gained knowledge into use and tested it out in work with young people. Each partner ensured dissemination of acquired knowledge and project's outcomes with other youth workers who work with young people at risk.