Page 93 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

In Germany, competence agencies were set up in 2006 in recognition that
certain groups of young people face considerable difficulty in accessing the
labour market. These groups include young people with few or no qualifications,
young people with family and social problems, and young offenders. The
agencies have adopted a case management approach and also rely on
collaboration with the local job centres.
A similar case manager approach has been adopted by an Austrian job
coaching project which works with long term unemployed young people aged 15
to 25. Each young person is assigned a personal coach, who guides and
supports them with the relevant authorities; if the employment integration process
is successful, this continues with the new employer and the new job. The project
begins with an eightweek training period involving communication, social and
basic skills. This is followed by an interview process and a work placement.
Another initiative with a focus on aiding young people’s transition to the
labour market is the voluntary labour corps (VLCs) in Poland. VLCs have
adopted a role as ‘holistic job centres’ where young people are supported in a
comprehensive manner in their efforts to find work. They target young people at
risk of social exclusion and also offer support to a diverse range of groups,
including secondary school pupils and graduates, university students and young
people who are unemployed or likely to become unemployed. Similar to the
competence agencies, VLCs focus on providing individualised guidance and
support and recognising the wide range of needs of their target group, by offering
services which help the young person to develop both professionally and socially.
To address the young people’s full range of support needs, the voluntary labour
corps, like the competence agencies, also work closely with relevant partners
including the police, psychological and addiction clinics.
Other similar labour market programmes include Integration pathways in
Belgium, First opportunity in the Czech Republic, Programme 10 000 in Slovenia
and One-stop-shops in the UK.

5.3. Effective reintegration programmes

The examples described in the previous section demonstrate a wide range of
effective practice, from approaches supporting return to education to projects aid
access to the labour market. The initiatives are targeted at a broad range of
young people with different needs and in different circumstances. Fundamentally,
the examples show that young people have the best chance of reintegrating if
they follow a supported journey, in which they are guided all the way through the

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