After working in the field for quite some time, youth organisations from Lithuania, South Africa, Vietnam and Peru understood that: 1) there is a lack of methods in youth work, which can help young people prevent from (re)offending; and 2) re-integration to the society is very difficult for young (ex)offenders. With this in mind, the partner consortium has started working on “Second Chance” (2C) project. The MAIN GOAL of the project is to help young people prevent from (re-)offending and improve youth work methods of crimes’ prevention and re-integration of (ex)offenders. To reach it, the following OBJECTIVES have been set: 1. to develop youth workers understanding of youth delinquency and provide them with specific tools and support to fight that;2. to identify most common crimes youth are committing in participants’ countries, and find ways to reduce them;3. to create NFE methods that would help prevent young offenders from reoffending through youth work;4. To equip youth workers & young leaders with knowledge, key competences & employable tools that would help prevent young offenders from reoffending.5. To foster capacity building and new social initiatives in the field of youth work related to tackling youth crime;6. To increase transnational cooperation & exchange of good practices between youth workers, organizations & NGOs active in tackling crime in the participating regions;7. To spread project’s ideas to wider audience.To achieve the above mentioned objectives, we will develop, test & launch a capacity building programme, targeting youth workers from EU & Partner countries, which will include: (1) analysis of ex-offenders integration situation in partner countries and creation of a training material for youth workers to improve it;(2) 3 training courses for youth workers on young (ex)offenders re-integration through youth work, hosted in countries that have problems with youth delinquency (South Africa, Vietnam, Peru);(3) 3 job shadowing activities in the above mentioned countries for youth workers to gain knowledge of how to minimize youth re-offending and improve social inclusion of young ex-offenders;(3) Developing open educational resources, including an Online platform and e-learning course on re-integration of young (ex)offenders, which would allow youth workers to access the educational content developed in the frame of the project at any time;(4) Launch of “Social Shock” contest for youth to create social campaigns on tackling youth crime and improving social integration of young ex-offenders. Implementing winning campaigns in practice with a professional advertising agency; (5) final seminar & conference on prevention of youth crime and re-integration of young offenders to share the results with wider target audiences.All of this will will surely improve the capacity of youth workers to tackle youth re-offending and facilitate further initiative creation for integration of those with fewer opportunities.
Even though there are numerous European policies that tackle juvenile delinquency, there still is a lack of clear instruments and methodologies targeted specifically at young (ex)offenders & their reintegration. Research shows that re-integration to the society is very difficult for young (ex)offenders. The "Second Chance" project focuses on non-discrimination, which is the goal of European policies of Education & Youth. Partners from Lithuania, Vietnam, South Africa and Peru join the forces with an intention to exchange the good practices in young offenders' social integration field & diminish the society's stigma towards these people (since it also poses a barrier to the successful integration).Main AIM: help young people prevent from offending and improve youth work methods of crimes’ prevention and re-integration.OBJECTIVES to reach this aim:-develop YWs’ understanding of youth delinquency;-identify the most common crimes youth are committing in participants’ countries & find ways (NFE methods) to reduce them;-launch, test & develop a training programme on “the prevention of youth re-offending”;-equip YWs with knowledge, key competences & employable tools that would help prevent young offenders from reoffending;-foster capacity building and new social initiatives in the field of youth work related to tackling youth crime;-increase transnational cooperation & exchange of good practices between target groups on the issue;-spread project’s ideas to wider audiences.TARGET GROUPSYouth workers & young leaders who:- work with vulnerable groups (among them young offenders);- face social, economic, geographic or cultural obstacles INDIRECT TARGET GROUP- A wider audience of youth workers & young people;- Young offenders in the partner communities and beyond.ACTIVITIES-Research on youth crime & integration in partner countries;-3 short-term training courses in Vietnam, Peru and South Africa;-Job shadowing to exchange and implement different practices on (ex-)offenders' integration;-E-learning platform for youth workers willing to work with young (ex-)offenders;-"Social Shock" contest & campaign to break stigmas towards (ex-)offenders;-Public photo exhibition "On Goodness" in Vilnius, Lithuania to change the opinion towards people in prison;-Local educational activities with youth at risk / young offenders;-Local and international conferences;-And others.All of this improves the capacity of youth workers to help young (ex)offenders and facilitate the integration processes of the latter.