Outreach strategies for inactive youth Inter-instituional Policy dialogue on the Youth Guarantee

1. Outreach approaches 2.Key elements of outreach 3.Measuring the results of outreach 4.Outreach strategy in Latvia; 5.Country case studies. Content Sources: ILO (2007), Tackling social exclusion of young people: A review of policies and practice to identify and address inactivity, Budapest, unpublished ICF International (2016), Strategies to support inactive young people in accessing services and programmes to re-enter education and/or the labour market, (draft, unpublished), London, paper commissioned by the ILO

Outreach approaches There is no single definition of “outreach”, but in the field of youth employment it typically encompasses: 1.Awareness raising and information to attract youth to available services 2.Interventions to identify, contact and engage inactive or disengaged youth, and 3.Individualized labour market integration delivered in proximity (e.g. in local communities, schools, malls, public events, or one-stop-shops or mobile settings).

Outreach approaches: Four steps Individualized support

Outreach: Identify and contact youth/1 Identification and contact There are three main means to identify youth who are inactive or disengaged: Tracking systems, data exchange and cross-analysis of administrative data. −The tracking system used by schools is linked to other administrative databases (PES, municipalities, social security system) to monitor school-to-work transition and identify at- risk youth. −These type of systems are operational in LU and NL. PT and EE have education tracking systems that are being interfaced with PES and other data. In ES, UK and IE tracking systems were piloted under the YG.

Outreach: Identify and contact youth/2 Partnership with organizations catering for young people’s needs. −In ES, INJUVE helps youth to register in the YG, while in DE Youth Employment Agencies work with local NGOs for the referral of disadvantaged youth. Employing outreach counsellors or street workers. −In FI, municipalities employ outreach workers (MoE co- financing); while in LU, BE and NO outreach is delivered by youth organizations on behalf of PES. −In some countries, specialized PES staff deliver services in the community (EE and DE). Use of street workers piloted in the YG of ES and IE.

Outreach: Engagement Engagement After contact, the engagement aims to identify barriers the young persons faces and offer information, counselling and support in finding the best mix of services and programmes (referral to specialized services). The intensity of support varies according to needs. Some youth are relatively ready to re-engage in education, training or the labour market, while others will need additional support prior to access education or employment services. Some countries design packages of support measures to prepare inactive youth to enter the YG scheme. Others include specific programmes in the YG.

Outreach: Individualized reintegration pathways Delivery of tailored services and programmes The interventions in the YG may need adaptation to needs of inactive and disengaged youth. The young person may need individualized support throughout the reintegration experience (e.g. by outreach workers that supported the individual or dedicated staff of implementing partners). Supporting staff intervenes when the young person has difficulties during programme implementation.

Measuring the results of outreach Transition indicators and direct monitoring indicators (entry/exit) combined with aggregate indicators (especially the NEET rate). Transition to map the situation of youth by labour market status before and after intervention.

Latvia: Outreach strategy The Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Education, the Agency for International Programmes for Youth and municipalities partnered to set-up a network of service providers and specialised workers to contact, engage and register inactive youth in the YG. Municipalities map young NEETs and conclude agreements with service providers and local NGOs for carrying out outreach work (mostly trained social and youth workers). Outreach workers are responsible to identify young NEETs, profile individual characteristics, check “distance” from the labour market, and map local-level initiatives. Individualized support (9-11 months) prepares youth to register in the YG.

Country case study - Finland: Outreach work The partners are the Ministry of Education, municipalities, local service providers (health, social work, employment) and NGOs. As part of the Youth Act, schools must provide municipalities with the information on young dropouts. Municipalities recruit outreach workers or contract local NGO (with MoE funds) to contact young people in places where they “hang-out”. Outreach workers carry out individualized assessments; provide information and support; organize motivation and transferable skills training, and other group activities (caseload of 5-10 youth). They also accompany the young person to specialized services.

Country case study - Sweden: Unga In The partners are the PES, schools, the police, care and social institutions as well as NGOs. Partners have the role to: i) refer young people to the programme; and ii) deliver specialized services to disengaged youth; The PES recruits (with own funds) peers of the target group (same age and prior experiences) to carry out street work and contact youth where they gather (sport, music events). The role of street workers is to bring disengaged youth towards the PES, where youth counsellors help the young person to develop an individual integration plan. The young person can also be referred to other specialized services according to individual needs.

Country case study - Spain: INJUVE The Ministry of Employment and INJUVE (with its network of youth centres) partnered within the national YG scheme to identify, reach-out and support young NEETs to register in the YG system; The youth workers of 450 youth centres around Spain are responsible to spread information about the youth guarantee and help young people register in the YG Portal (which requires an electronic identification certificate); The Ministry of Employment is currently negotiating agreements with large non-government organizations to reach-out to young people and support them though the registration process.

Elements of an outreach delivery system in the YG OUTREACH

Suggested points for discussion 1.What are the main lessons emerging from the initial implementation of the “Learn and Do” approach in terms of identification, engagement and individualized support? 2.Which partners are mostly engaged in outreach and support at municipal level? 3.Which services and programmes are most required/delivered? 4.What else would be needed in terms of quantity and quality and with the view to improving the performance and relevance of similar interventions?

QUESTIONS?

Contact International Labour Office EC-ILO Action on youth employment policy in Europe Website: ILOyouth