scene magazine, issue 81, december 2014

Issue 81, December, 2014ISBN: 0791-6302

Employment and Youth Work Edition

INSIDE

Contributors:Niamh Hand

Dr. Chris McInerneySue Redmond

Padraig McGrathMick Cowman

Elaine NevinMaria GriffinDonal Kelly

sceneMAGAZINE

Employmentand

Youth WorkEdition

3 A Word from our CEO Dr. Patrick J. Burke, Youth Work Ireland

4 Introduction to this Edition Matthew Seebach, Youth Work Ireland

5 Green Pathways Elaine Nevin and Niamh Hand, ECO‐UNESCO

8 Linking the Most Marginalised to Jobs Padraig McGrath, The Carer’s Association

10 YEP Youth Employment Model Mick Cowman, Bradóg

12 Work Winner Programme Donal Kelly, TRYS

14 Opening your Mind to Mindfulness Sue Redmond Ph.D

16 Interview with Tina Blau, the IYWC Library Alice Kinsella

18 Youth Work Ireland Meath Celebrating 25 Years of Success Maria Griffin, Youth Work Ireland Meath

20 Research Review Michael McLoughlin, Youth Work Ireland

22 Research Brief Dr. Chris McInerney, University of Limerick

24 New Library Resources

26 Policy Brief Michael McLoughlin, Youth Work Ireland

Scene MagazineIssue 81, December 2014

Contents

Production Editor: Matthew Seebach, Sub‐Editor for this Edition: Alice Kinsella

Layout: Gina Halpin Cover Image: Youth Work Ireland National Consensus Conference 2014 © Marc O’Sullivan Printing: IFP Media

Contributors: Patrick Burke, Mick Cowman, Maria Griffin, Niamh Hand, Donal Kelly, Alice Kinsella, Padraig McGrath, Dr. Chris McInerney,Michael McLoughlin, Elaine Nevin, Sue Redmond and Matthew Seebach.

The team at Scene Magazine would like to extend a special thanks to Alice Kinsella who worked so hard as sub editor on this edition.

Contact: Irish Youth Work Centre, Youth Work Ireland, 20 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin 1, Tel: 01‐8584512

Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: www.iywc.ieDisclaimer: It is open to all our readers to exchange information or to ut forward points of view. Send in news, comments, letters or articles to the editors.Views expressed in this magazine are the contributors own and do not reflect those of the Irish Youth Work Centre or Youth Work Ireland.

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EditorialGreetings all and welcome to the Winteredition of Scene Magazine. The theme of thisedition is employment and youth work.

Those of us working in the youth sector are very awarethat the practice of youth work is very good at helping young people get the skills, information and advice theyneed to gain employment. While this is not and should not be the main purpose of youth work, there is significantevidence to show that interventions in the youth work context bring young people closer to the labour market.Youth work occupies the informal learning space in which many of the so called “soft skills” necessary for theworld of work such as team work, creativity and project management are learned. The European Commission’sExpert Group Report on Developing the Creative and Innovative Potential of Young People through Non‐formalLearning in Ways that are Relevant to Employability acknowledges this. It correctly lays a strong emphasis on theneed for understanding non‐formal learning and for closing the gap between the labour market and informallearning. This introduction reads:

There is a need to recognise and value non‐formal learning in a creative and innovative way, raising the visibility of skillsacquired outside the formal system and fostering complementarity between non‐formal and formal learning, while atthe same time promoting equal opportunities.Rethinking Education, 20.11.2012, COM (2012) 669

Such thinking is timely given the increased emphasis on outcomes, certification and employment in working withyoung people today. The Better Outcomes Brighter Futures Policy Framework and some of the early thinking on aNational Youth Strategy make it clear that increasingly the emphasis in policy is as much on “work with youngpeople” as “youth work”. In many respects this developing distinction allows for a broader canvass of activities andexpectations in terms of outcomes. At the same time, the emphasis from employers on the formal training andeducation system and the certification it gives rise to, is a core feature of the Irish labour market. While anappreciation for soft skills is often professed by employers, the evidence of their actions suggests somethingdifferent. This makes the challenge in communicating and explaining informal learning all the greater butnevertheless critical to the youth sector.

In addition to the soft skills which young people learn in the context of youth work, there are within the sectorfine examples of targeted training and employment initiatives. This comes in the form of formal state sponsoredprogrammes such as Community Training Centres, Youthreach, Community Employment Schemes etc. In addition,the sector has developed its own innovative responses to the scandal of the ongoing pervasive and persisting highyouth unemployment levels. Unfortunately in spite of the fact that many of these innovative programmes havebeen independently evaluated and shown to work, they have not been funded or replicated by Government. Wehad hoped that at least some of the Youth Guarantee funds from the EU would have been diverted to supportsuch innovation.

Even though youth work can and does play a significant role in bringing young people closer to the labour market,the youth work sector needs to maintain an essential focus on its core values, principles and practices. Ourpractice has a much larger agenda in terms of working with young people to nurture the growth and developmentof the “whole” young person. Youth work is valuable in itself. While it does have instrumental use in relation tothe labour market it continues to be much much more than just that.

May I take this opportunity on behalf of the young people, volunteers, staff and Board of Youth Work Ireland andits Members to wish all readers the complements of the Season and a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Dr. Patrick J. BurkeCEO Youth Work Ireland

a word from our CEO

Scene Magazine Issue 81, December, 2014 3

Scene Magazine Issue 81, December 20144

Every year Scene Magazine readers are surveyed toidentify their interests and the issues they would like toread about in upcoming editions. In 2014, youth workersidentified development education, volunteers in youthwork, the new national outcomes for children andyoung people, and youth employment as the key issues.

From last year’s survey, the topic of youth employmentand youth work was one of the most highly rated. Inresponding to this choice, the editors of SceneMagazine have taken the position that youth work isvery good at supporting young people to engage inemployment, but that care is needed to ensure thatyouth workers are not given the impression that the mainoutcome or objective of youth work should be in thearea of youth employment.

This premise, is not solely our own thinking, but ratherit is supported by a recent European Commission report(reviewed in this edition pg. 20) Developing the Creativeand Innovative Potential of Young People through Non‐formal Learning in ways that are Relevant to Employability.This Expert Group Report, chaired by Dr John Bamber ofthe Centre for Effective Services, states that;

The purpose of youth work is not to provide jobs butengagement in the wide variety of personal and socialdevelopment activities that it offers; helps young peopleto develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that arefrequently said to be needed in the labour market.These include teamwork, communication, leadership,flexibility and responsiveness. They also includecreativity and innovation, which involve definingproblems, coming up with ways of dealing with them,and sticking to a chosen course of action. In this wayyouth work contributes to closing the gap between thecompetences acquired by young people and the needsof the labour market.

The main purpose of youth work is clear, but sometimesyouth work goes beyond its main purpose to respond toemerging issues, such as youth employment. How thencan youth work go beyond its main purpose to respondto youth employment? The answers roughly summed upanother report entitled, Mapping the Contribution ofIrish Youth Work to Youth Employment. This report isforth‐coming from the Youth Affairs Unit, Department ofChildren and Youth Affairs, and the Centre for EffectiveServices.

Very roughly summarised, the report makes the pointthat in Irish youth work, young people are supported toaccess employment in four broad ways:

1. Through the generality of provision young peoplegain skills and competencies that are relevant toemployment. In this edition, the links between theyouth work approach and employment support are wellillustrated in the article about the YEP programmepiloted in Bradóg Youth Service and Sphere 17 YouthService.

2. Youth work can link youth employment work torelevant issues. The Green Pathways programmeprovided by ECO‐UNESCO demonstrates that a youthwork organisation can effectively develop a youthemployment programme that supports and links toissues relevant to their mission and purpose.

3. Youth work can provide programmes that actuallyplace young people in jobs. The Work Winner programmein Tipperary Regional Youth Service describes exactlyhow such an initiative can be successfully supported bya youth service.

4. And finally, youth work projects can focus onensuring that those who are furthest from opportunitiesto engage in the labour market are brought closer tothose opportunities. In this edition the role of youthwork approaches in engaging with young people whoare socially excluded is discussed in an article by PadraigMcGrath of the Young Carers Project.

In meeting with the authors of the articles anddiscussing their experiences, it has become clear thatyouth work projects often do more than one of theabove things. All effective youth work has a socialinclusion element. Many youth work projects that dealwith employment include job placement. The point isthat the four approaches named above are a simple wayof understanding youth work’s contribution toresponding to the issue of supporting young people inemployment.

This simple framework, we hope, will be of assistance toyou in considering the learning that is offered in thearticles of this edition. Moreover, we hope that thisthinking will help you to reflect on how your workmight, or might not, be placed to respond to the issueof young people and employment and how theseapproaches relate to your own youth work values andobjectives.

Matthew Seebach is Federal Coordinator of YouthWork Practice with Youth Work Ireland

Introduction to this Edition Matthew Seebach, Youth Work Ireland

Scene Magazine Issue 81, December, 2014

GreenPathwaysHelping Progress YoungPeople Back to WorkElaine Nevin & Niamh Hand, ECO-UNESCO

Introduction Established in 1986, ECO‐UNESCO isIreland’s environmental educationaland youth organisation, affiliated tothe World Federation of UNESCOClubs, Centres and Associations.ECO‐UNESCO works in the field ofenvironmental education, trainingand youth empowerment with awide range of target groups focusedprincipally on young people agedbetween 12 and 25. As a FETACaccredited training centre since2005, ECO‐UNESCO runs a range ofaccredited training courses. In 2012,combining its youth workexperience, its environmentalexpertise and its trainingaccreditation, ECO‐UNESCOdeveloped ‘Green Pathways’, anaccredited youth employmentprogramme aimed at upskillingyoung people to avail of the jobopportunities within the greeneconomy.

Funded under Momentum, theprogramme ran between 2012 and2014 and successfully worked withover 60 long‐term unemployedyoung people, progressing themonto further education, training andemployment. The “Green Economy”is a key area of growth as outlined inthe Government Action Plan on Jobs2014 and therefore offersopportunities for young people whoare long term unemployed.

In 2014 building on theexperience from GreenPathways I, ECO‐UNESCOdeveloped ‘GreenPathways IIEnvironmental Studies and Skills’.Funded under the Momentum,Green Pathways II commenceddelivery in November 2014, inDublin city centre and is currentlyworking with 25 people. The aim ofthis free programme is to progressparticipants who have beenunemployed for more than oneyear, onto paid employment.Throughout the 2014‐2015 we willwork with over 70 people. Allparticipants on the Green Pathwaysprogramme receive professionalenvironmental training, motivationaltraining and a work placement tohelp them get their ‘foot in thedoor’ to companies andorganisations they may nototherwise have access to.

What is theapproach of GreenPathways?The ‘Green Pathways IIEnvironmental Studies and Skills’programme runs over 6 months ‐ 27weeks in total and comprises a 3week intensive induction, 3 FETACaccredited courses, a workplacement, and 1‐2‐1 mentoring.Participants also have to complete aValue Added Project which theycomplete in their work placements. ECO‐UNESCO uses its specialisedexpertise in the green economy,sustainable development, ecology inthe environment, gardening,landscaping and horticulture todevelop specialist skills foremployment. The approach is towork with young people to developtheir confidence, their self‐esteemand their motivation and to helpthem identify their strengths, theirlikes and ultimately the career paththat they want.

Throughout the programme ECO‐UNESCO offers motivationaltraining. Green Pathways IIintroduced the 3 week inductionmodule to build candidate’s self‐confidence, self‐esteem, their

Green Pathways hashelped me to

communicate withpeople; before the courseI couldn’t converse with

people due to lowconfidence, but now I amable to speak to people

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motivationto participate in

and complete theprogramme and to improve

their attitude to return to workfollowing a long period ofunemployment. The Inductionprogramme includes an introductionto the programme and potential jobprospects, motivational training,group work and project work; aninitial 1‐2‐1 meeting for participantsand mentors to create an IndividualLearner Programme (ILP) andoutdoor activities. A group project isalso introduced to strengthen teamwork skills, communication skills andpersonal development. To date, thisintensive 3 week inductionprogramme has helped buildconfidence and motivation ofcurrent participants while alsopreparing them for the course ahead.

All participants in the programmecomplete a range of FETACaccredited training courses; theseinclude a FETAC level 5 inSustainable Development – thiscovers the links between theenvironment, society and theeconomy; upskills participants howto develop and carry out an auditincluding a quality of life indicatorset; introduces participants topermaculture among other areas.The other environmental course is aFETAC level 6 Course on Ecology andthe Environment; participants upskillin environmental studies, ecology,conservation biology and populationstudies/habitat assessment and gainknowledge in current environmental,ecological, conservation and policyissues.

The third FETAC module offered isthe Work Experience FETAC Level 5module. This module is a keycomponent of the programme and isessential for the participants as theywill gain key skills to make themmore employable. The modulecovers many aspects of employmentsupport including: job search,interview skills, mock interviews, CVand cover letter writing, personal

development, weekly supportmeetings and a skills and interesttest whilst at the same timeproviding participants with anaccredited qualification. From ourexperience in 2013 all of these skillsgained from this module haveproven to be highly valuable in theparticipant’s journey to employment.

Another key element of theprogramme is the substantial 3month work placement whichincludes one support day per weekin ECO‐UNESCO. The aim of thiswork placement is to providestudents with the opportunity toengage in a practical application ofthe course material in a structuredsupervised experiential learningenvironment and to gain a ‘foot‐in‐the‐door’. Participants are matchedwith organisations that closelymatch their interests andaspirations. ECO‐UNESCO has astrong relationship with localbusinesses and has placed 52participants in 2013 with over 40work placement companies in theDublin area. The 3 month durationof the full‐time work placementalong with the continued supporthas been very positive for pastparticipants.

The Green Pathways II programmelinks to the needs of the local labourmarket. Research by ECO‐UNESCOincluded consultation with over 30employers in Dublin whichhighlighted a niche localemployment need. Feedbackidentified a range of positions acrossa variety of different jobopportunities in the green sector;employers are looking for up skilled

employees such as gardeners,botanists, horticulturists andecologists. This research built stronglinks with local employers who haveidentified a skills gap and in resultwill increase the career prospects ofthe participants.

ECO‐UNESCO also uses mentorsupport as a main element of theprogramme with participantsmeeting on a weekly basis with theirallocated mentor. During themeetings participants develop anIndividual Learner Plan (ILP).Previous experience has shown agrowth in confidence and motivationwhen participants have a structuredplan in place with employability andpersonal set goals to aim for. The 1‐2‐1 mentor meetings help todetermine participant’s individualneeds and assist them on their wayto employment. These meetingsdiscuss aspects of the workexperience module and eachparticipants CV is reviewed by theirmentor.

ConclusionECO‐UNESCO has reviewed thesuccess of Green Pathways Iprogramme and the impact that ithas had on the 60+ youngparticipants in 2013. Participantshave found they have increasedconfidence; they are moremotivated to progress and now feelthey have some of the necessaryskills to do so. Through theprogramme these young peoplehave not only gained FETACaccreditation and hands on workexperience, but they now have agreater number of employmentopportunities open to them. Formany the programme has provedkey in their own personaldevelopment and guiding themtowards the next step in theircareers.

The success of the programme is acombination of many elementsincluding a focus on increased self‐esteem, the learner‐centred

Green Pathways hasgiven me the confidenceto believe in myself and

motivate others. Itsshown me that not onlyam I capable, but proud

to be me to my fullpotential.

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Featured Article

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approach, provision of accredited trainings,ongoing personal and employability supportsand securing a quality work placement.Central to the success of this programme hasbeen the participant’s determination,dedication, energy and enthusiasm. Manyfrom the 2013 class have progressed ontopaid employment while others are nowpursuing further and higher education.

Ireland has one ofthe highest rates ofunemployment,particularly youthunemployment inEurope, but we alsohave a hugely ambitious and talentedpopulation. ECO‐UNESCO wants to give youngpeople the chance they deserve and allowtheir strengths and ideas to flourish in asupportive and pro‐active environment. Withthe green economy earmarked as an area forhuge growth, this programme focuses on up‐skilling people today, allowing them to be atthe forefront of one of tomorrow’s leadingsectors.

The Green Pathways programme has createdmany great opportunities for participants todate. Over the coming year we are lookingforward to motivating, upskilling andempowering Green Pathways II participantsand to providing them with the confidence,cutting edge skills and work experience tohelp them achieve their ambitions.

I have mydream job and

Green Pathwaysgot me here

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ECO-UNESCO’s Green Pathways II –Environmental Studies and Skillsprogramme is funded under theMomentum initiative.

Elaine Nevin is the National Director ofECO-UNESCO

Niamh Hand is the Green PathwaysProject Officer for ECO-UNESCO

The authors would like to acknowledgethe support of SOLAS.

For more information visit: www.ecounesco.iewww.momentumskill.ie

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So who are young carers? Youngcarers are young people whoprovide significant care and supportfor a family member or householdmember who has a physical ormental illness, a disability or abusessubstances. These young peopleoften lack support from theirsurroundings as they take on a hugeamount of responsibility at a youngage. The Carers Association hastwenty‐two centres nationwide;Padraig is responsible forcoordinating the young carersprojects in these centres.

Life is far from easy for youngcarers. Getting to a position wherethey can access employment orfurther education is more difficultfor them than for the average youngperson. One of the biggestchallenges for young carers is thatthey are often invisible to teachersand to other professionals and theymay not receive the care andsupport they require. They cannotalways attend school and this leadsto issues keeping up withschoolwork. This and ongoing careresponsibilities exclude these youngpeople from the labour market. As

they are often young people comingfrom under‐privileged backgrounds,an education is necessary to helpthem access employment.

As young people they have tochoose between giving care anddoing their homework, but as adultsthey have to choose between acareer path and looking after theperson in their care. Additionallymany young carers suffer frommental health difficulties, and donot always have access to the helpthey may need. When properlysupported care giving is a positiveexperience, but when not properlysupported the education and socialbarriers can last a life time.

The Carers Association aims toimprove the life of young carers.While the project is in its infancy,the goal is that each of the twenty‐two centres will have a young carersproject. This will provide a supportgroup for young carers, where theywill tackle the issues and barriersthat young carers face. They offer aseries of programmes, looking atprime training opportunities forcarers, helping them gain access to


Linking the mostmarginalised to jobsPadraig McGrath, The Carers Association

Youth work addresses one of the most commonlydisregarded groups in society, young people, but evenwithin this field there are some marginalised groups whichcan still be overlooked. Their opportunities for engagingwith the labour market are limited by their social exclusionand basic steps are required to bring them closer toopportunities for work and further employment. PadraigMcGrath works with one of these groups, young carers.Padraig is the Young Carer’s Development Officer at TheCarers Association.


the labour market. The projects alsowant to provide help for the youngcarers who experience mentalhealth issues, providing aid by givingthem access to counsellors, as wellas other means of support.

Padraig and The Carers Associationseek to help these young carers, butthere are problems for those thattry to help too. The biggest

challenge the projects face isidentifying young carers. Mostyoung carers don’t want to comeforward, they have fears of socialworkers, changing familyenvironment, as sometimes the careroles they hold are inappropriateand seen as a form of neglect withinthe home. This discourages theyoung carers from seeking the helpthey need, making them difficult toidentify. Another challenge they faceis a lack of funding, running suchambitious projects takes money aswell as time, aid from thegovernment and other sources isneeded to ensure these projectsreach their full potential.

There are solutions for problemssuch as these. Awareness of youngcarers and the problems they face isnecessary. Awareness needs to beraised about young carersthemselves, their families, theprofessionals who work with them,schools and at government level.Until recently young carers were nota significant part of thegovernment’s agenda, though TheCarers Association has had meetingswith the Department Of Childrenand Youth Affairs, and hope that thisis a step in the right direction. TheCarers Association hopes thatawareness and funding will helpthem to provide the support groupswhich are needed. Support isneeded for young carers within theschools, access to education andpractical skills to help them gainemployment.

Youth work has a role in assistingyoung carers. Youth workers can beaware of young carers in theircommunity, project or youth club,so that they can be provided withthe support, care and guidance theyneed. It is also vital that youthworkers become aware of thechallenges faced by young carers.When working with young carers ina youth work context awareness ofthe following can assist in the socialinclusion of young carers:

• Young carers often don’t have time to socialise or make friends, be aware and give support in this area.

• Young carers often have a lack ofsupport at home because of theircaring role, and being able to access support elsewhere is fundamental to their wellbeing and opportunities for inclusion inthe labour market.

• Dealing with young carers is often unlike dealing with other young people, they can be very mature and responsible, more so than average for their age, because of the responsibilities they have taken on at a young age.

Clearly, young carers are not onequal footing with the other youngpeople in terms of accessingeducation, employment and beingable to socialise with peers. Likeother socially excluded youngpeople, they are several stepsremoved from the labour market.The basic functions of youth work:outreach, support and providing asocial space can assist in bridgingthat gap. In addition, youth workerscan work in collaboration withspecialist agencies like the youngcarers project. Through such stepssocial and educational barriers foryoung carers can be lifted,drastically improving their chancesof achieving the lives they wish tolive.

For more informationcontact The Carers Association:www.carersireland.com

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Featured Article


YEP!Youth Employment Model

by Mick Cowman

The YEP! (Youth Employment Programme) is a successfull initiative developed by two

different areas: Bradóg Regional Youth Service in North West Inner City Dublin and

Sphere 17 from the Dublin 17 area around Darndale in the north Dublin suburbs, in

association with City of Dublin Youth Service Board. Running from October 2013 to

October 2014 it aimed to develop a specifically youth work approach to working with

100+ young people aged from 16-24 who were not in education, training or employment.

Many of the young people targeted experienced low skills levels, had limited knowledge of

the options available and/or experienced other personal and family challenges.

YEP! had a Steering Committee with representatives of local agencies involved in this type

of work, and some employers who offered assistance and ensured complimentarity

between the different services and approaches.

The Partners felt that the project was successful, compatible with the values and aims of

youth work and can be extended to reach certain sections of the youth population which

mainstream services find difficult to engage.

Essentially the YEP model is predicated on a number ofprinciples, thus it is voluntary not compulsory; no oneis threatened with losing welfare payments unless they“voluntarily” go down to Bradóg/Sphere 17. Ourexperience to date has been that a large proportion ofsocially excluded young people ARE willing tovoluntarily engage and stay engaged, because theywant a future, and are unhappy with the present.

It is Person Centred; its origins do not lie in a desireto cut the numbers on the dole, or save the exchequer– in fact it may, in time, cost more in the short term.Increasingly the narrative is to get young people intoany jobs, to cut their payments, to stop them being aburden on the state. We see the young people we areworking with as needing help to plan a life, to addressthe obstacles that have led to them doing nothing.Participants may choose work, education or training;some may decide to tackle something seemly unrelatedfirst like a housing issue or an addiction issue.

It is Developmental: we see finding a career or apurpose in life that is fulfilling, as a core challenge forall adolescents and that youth work must be in therewith its members/young people. They are in atransitional phase in their lives; there is a window ofopportunity for them to find a groove, and we musthelp them stay in touch with their hope that they canbe someone before cynicism and depression kicks in.

It is Safe: we do not threaten or harass the youngpeople with losing benefits; and our salaries do notdepend on them getting any particular specific jobs oroutcome. Thus the temptation to push people intounsuitable jobs is not there. And if they need to workon addiction or health issues so be it, we have time.

A Youth Work Approach


This brings a number of features:

Ongoing Commitment: A youth service is aboutthe only body, apart from their parents, that will staywith a young person as they move through the variousdevelopmental stages from childhood to adulthood.They lose contact with primary teachers as (if) theymove to secondary school; when secondary schoolfinishes, sometimes not voluntarily, they cease contactwith those teachers; while the focus of social welfare isusually to assess eligibility for dole and/or get them offthe dole queues.

Local Innovation (for segments of the labourmarket): We feel the target group are drifting and arepart of a minority that State services do not work witheffectively; indeed the State tends not to be good atpioneering new approaches for minorities as they aregeared to standardised mass programmes nationwide.The State can however, recognise and support theworkable solutions that those closer to the marketdevelop.

Scale: This is not to say all youth services can orshould do this work, but a regional youth service with anumber of workers has in house experience of devising,

implementing, evaluating programmes and managinginter agency relationships and the capacity to both planthe work and deliver the frontline staff.

Local Delivery: the response needs to be targeted tothe needs of the local areas. For example, the needsand resources of an ethnically mixed Dublin inner cityarea will differ from outer city suburbs and rural areasand this variety should be built into any model.

Trust/“The Brand”: we have known most of theyoung people in the area for many years and have theirmobile phone numbers, their Facebook accounts etc.Participation in our service is voluntary and so wenegotiate a relationship; this means we can and haverung at 7a.m. to remind someone of an interview; or at11 a.m. to get someone out of bed because they havegot into the habit of watching movies all night; or wecan raise drug, alcohol or other issues that are blocksto developing a career.

Evidence Informed: we are committed to basingour work on identified need and approaches that work,recording the learning and sharing the lessons withothers.

Delivery is through a Community Based Service

like Bradóg or Sphere 17

To ensure the successful development of a youthemployment process, partnerships need to bedeveloped horizontally with local services and agenciesfirstly, to ensure young people are aware of and cangain access to local services. Secondly, so theprogramme avoids duplication and thirdly, so thatpotential for joint delivery of programmes can beexplored to maximise the outcomes for young people.

Partnerships need to be developed vertically from localyouth services to policy level ensuring that informationand learning is moving both ways.

We feel that preparation for employment starts muchearlier than a youth employment programme. In arange of ways a youth service is preparing youngpeople for employment, from supporting school

retention to developing life skills that are attractive toemployers. However, this is not a systematic approach.But with the right resources it could be far moresystematic and structured.

YEP has Potential for “Vertical and Horizontal

Integration”

For more information on eitherorganisation you can contact

www.bradog.comwww.sphere17.ie


Tipperary Regional Youth Service(TRYS) is an integrated youth servicewhich works with young people agedbetween 8 and 25 years old. Wemanage a range of projects in Co.Tipperary and East Limerick, whichinclude working with disadvantagedyoung people, providing targetedinterventions in the areas of youthjustice, substance misuse, familysupport, as well as supportingvolunteer led clubs and communityinitiatives. For the past five years,we have placed a strong focus onyouth unemployment. To this endwe have created a bespoke model tosupport young people who areremoved from the labour market toaccess training and work experiencein order to gain entry into the jobsmarket.

A fledgling project that started as an18 week pilot programme in 2009 isnow a well‐tested evidence basedprogramme that has a proven trackrecord of success. We call thisprogramme the Work WinnerProgramme. To date we haveworked with approximately 200young people with 70% of theseyoung people remaining in theemployment/training sector afterthey complete the programme. TheWork Winner Programme workswith young people to identify whatthey are interested in, and what interms of local employment they aresuited for. The Work WinnerProgramme provides training andqualifications, and places a highemphasis on relevant workexperience which both help

participants to become accustomedto the workplace, and also providesthem with an advantage over otherjob seekers when looking foremployment. This helps balancesome of the disadvantages they havein terms of background, qualifications,socio‐economic status etc. Thecurrent mainstream employment/training programmes only serve topush those most at risk further fromengagement. The most marginalisedare left to compete with highlyeducated, highly skilled workers andgraduates. Existing programmes areall employer driven, there is a chasmbetween young people and workplacement/employment/trainingthat cannot be vaulted in one step.The Work Winner programme aimsto provide a young person centredapproach to supporting youngpeople to enter and remain inemployment on a long term basis,thus having a positive impact ontheir lives into the future.

Lessons Learned• Stay true to the principles of

youth work practice.• Take a person centred approach.

Everybody says put the youngperson first but how many“activations” are ever designed aftermeeting the young person, or inconsultation with the young person?The reality is that training providersare normally forced to come to thetable with their programme pre‐determined; in the case of mainstreamprogrammes it is normally the needsof the employers that are prioritisedover the needs of the participants. Itis not a criticism of the schemes orhost organisations; they are obligedto look after the best interests oftheir organisation and they have aduty of care to fill these posts withthe best and brightest, and with theorganisations’ needs takingprecedence. It does however leavethose furthest from the labour marketunable to even compete in this world.

The difference with the WorkWinner Programme is that it seats

YoungPersonDevelopment

Companies /Local

Agencies

ETBEmployer

Local/Private

TRYS

Dept.of Social

Protection

The Work Winner Programme supportsyoung people to develop their employabilitythrough training and work experience.

W O R KWinnerDonal Kelly, TRYS

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the young person at the nucleuswith participant needs paramount.They are the architects of their owntraining and are consulted in allfacets of training, employers andindividual supports, with the majorityof the power resting with theparticipant.

Voluntary participation is acornerstone of the process,participants receive NO additionalpayment they must opt in forsomething other than financial gainand are not coerced by any agencyinto joining the programme. Theparticipants must buy into the valuesof the programme. We askparticipants for a very largecommitment of time and effort, andnever sugar coat the very hard roadahead. We will work with you andwe will work very hard for you, butmost of the heavy lifting will have tobe done by you. The process of the‘youth work’ relationship with theyoung person is key to meeting theyoung person where they are at; justbecause a young person receives a“jobseekers” payment in no waymakes them a “jobseeker”.

Mobility: Issues surrounding youngpeople’s inability to move outsideestates or towns has lead us toconstantly search for solutions. Thisphenomenon is further exasperatedby the lack of public transport and

the issue of rurality. To counteract itwe have sourced lifts and arrangedfor training to take place in Dublinand Limerick to expose ourparticipants to other places. It hasbecome very evident over the yearsthat the mobility issue is as much amental one as a geographical issuewith young people allowing theirworlds to become very small places.The international element of theprogramme has developed slowlyover a number of years culminatingin a short term pilot version of theprogramme taking place in Londonin 2014 where ten young peoplefrom our projects were sent on amicro Work Winner Programme. It isexpected that as this develops in2015 in partnership with Leargas andthe Tony Ryan Fund, we can begin tofurther address the mobility issuesthat can cripple a great deal of theyoung people of Tipperary .

Be Rich in Practice and in Evidence.We use tools to capture all progression,including photos, the outcome star,the transtheoretical model of change,films, questionnaires etc. The sectorhas collectively been taking massiveforward strides in this regard as weattempt to clarify and articulate thevalue of our work. The journey andfindings of the past five years havebeen documented by Dr. EileenHumphries University of Limerick,and Sinead McMahon LIT Tipperary

and TRYS are on the point ofpublishing the results.

Conclusion The project has evolved andchanged since 2009 bringing onboard more stakeholders with theDept. of Social Protection, TipperaryEducation Training Board and theLocal Development Company nowthe major partners. The success andmomentum of the programme hasseen new funders such as the Co.Council, Leargas, Caring Communities(CFI) and other organisations acrossIreland adopting the model andsupporting where possible the deliveryof the programme. However, the corevalues and goals of the project remainthe same, it responds to a real needwith an effective bespoke trainingmodel that delivers real outcomes toboth the community and economy.It also endorses the fact that youthwork will always provide the bestopportunity to engage with the mostmarginalised young people.

Donal Kelly is Work WinnerProject Co‐ordinator at TRYS

(e) [email protected](w) www.trys.ie


Featured Article

13


Our worlds are busy, we face many challenges everyday. It may start with simply getting out the door towork, battling through traffic, or facing into themountain of work on your desk. Demands, bothinternal and external face us every day. How we are, ishow we deal with them. How we are, affects thosearound us. As individuals and educators, ‘how you are’affects the people you interact with whether they areyour children, colleagues, employees or clients.

As humans, one of our unique conditions is that we areconstantly thinking about either the past or the future.Unfortunately, we are rarely in the present moment,but it is in the present moment that everythinghappens. The only thing we have control of is ourselvesin this present moment, nothing else. Coming into thepresent is important, as it is here in the present that you can look after yourself.

Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in thepresent moment without making judgement (Kabat‐Zinn, 1990). The key piece here is without judgement.All too often we are judging ourselves, other people,our actions, other people’s actions, our values andother peoples’ values. Mindfulness is being presentwithout judgement. Accepting that what is, is.Accepting reality as it is. Accepting yourself as you are.Accepting other people as they are, and not trying tochange them. The only real change comes from within,trying to force other people to change for your

happiness is madness, and really, why should they? Mindfulness is about seeing the wonderful in what is.All too often we are not happy with what is and wewant to change what is. We want to change otherpeople, saying ‘I will be happy when that personchanges and stops being so angry’ or ‘I will be happywhen I achieve this thing’. 'I will be happy when...' is afools game as no sooner have you arrived than the goalpost changes.

The question is, 'why not be happy now?' Why wouldyou deny yourself happiness in this moment forsomething that may or may not happen? Why notdecide to be happy in this moment and every moment?The only thing we have control of is ourselves. Whywould we make a condition of our happiness someoneelse’s behaviour? It doesn’t sound very intelligent doesit? Sadly, we do this all the time.

So now I offer you an opportunity tobring mindfulness into your life. It isnot easy, but it is really quite simple.

Bring your attention to your hands, when you areworking watch your hands.

Bring your attention to your food, when you are eatingthink about what you are eating, where it came fromand what it tastes like.

Opening Your Mind toM i n d f u l n e s s

by Sue Redmond, PhD.,


Bring your attention to your breath, when you areinhaling observe your inhalation and observe yourexhalation. What do you notice?

Bring your attention to your hearing, when you arehearing listen, really listen and hear the sounds near andfar.

Bring your attention to your sight; see what is in front ofyou, trees, rivers, lakes, birds and people. Really see.

Learn to observe yourself, your feelings, your thoughtsand be non‐judgemental. Learn to anchor yourself bydeveloping self‐control and discipline with your mind andyour ability to be in the present.

Mindfulness is for people who want to be more fullyaware, to improve their overall quality of life and live lifeto the full. The practice of intentional, non‐judgmentalawareness of moment‐to‐moment experience can assistin cultivating well‐being in an individual’s life. Empiricalresearch has also begun to demonstrate the benefits ofmindfulness both at a personal level and a professionallevel.

At a Personal LevelResearch by Davis & Hayes (2012) reviews the impact ofvarious empirical studies and outlines that mindfulnesscan lead to emotional regulation, stress reduction, boostsworking memory, reduces rumination, leads to lessemotional reactivity, greater cognitive flexibility andenhanced relationship satisfaction.

At a Professional LevelA study on the impact of mindfulness for teachersindicates that mindfulness for educators boosts aspects ofteacher’s mindfulness and self‐compassion, reducespsychological symptoms and burnout, increases effectiveteaching behaviour, and reduces attentional biases (Flooket al., 2013).

ConclusionCome into the present moment, there is really no reasonnot to, for it is here that you will find contentment andhappiness.

References:Davis, D.M. & Hayes, J.A. (2012) What are the benefits ofmindfulness, Monitor on Psychology, vol 43, no 7, p. 64Flook, L., Golderg, S.B., Pinger, L., Bonus, K., Davidson, R.J.,(2013) Mindfulness for Teachers: A Pilot Study to AssessEffects on Stress, Burnout, and Teaching Efficacy, Mind, Brainand Education, 7, 3, 18

About Our ServiceIt’s time to look at work and life morecomprehensively and holistically. Do youhave an idea about where you want yourorganisation to go?

I can offer a unique package to get youthere including some or all of thefollowing:

1. Bespoke training & programme development tailored in the areas of leadership, change management, organisational development, ethics in leadership, emotional intelligence, staff well‐being and a range of youth development topics.

2. Comprehensive research & evaluations which support learning and development.

3. Coaching for executives and individuals to enable them to clarify their direction and reach their full potential.

4. Mindfulness training to integrate presence and awareness to enhance well‐being and decision making.

Best of all, I am a scientist and embedthe most up‐to‐date available evidencein everything I do.

You can contact me [email protected]

or 086‐8102770

So Tina, can you tell me a bit about your role hereat Youth Work Ireland?My name is Tina Blau and I am the librarian here at YouthWork Ireland. This doesn’t just mean physical books; thismeans I look after the whole library here, which is mainlythe online open access catalogue. This has all our resourcesavailable to search online, which is an easy way to see ourresources.

And what have you been doing with this resource?I look after the library very carefully! I keep it regularlymaintained. I’ve been reorganising it and making sureeverything that we have is in the online catalogue, I alsoregularly add new resources.

Add resources?Yes, I want to keep the library as up to date as possible, soI’m always adding new things! To add resources I search allrelevant sites, such as various government departmentssuch as the Department of Children and Youth Affairs andthe Department of Education, looking at their newestresources and adding them to our catalogue. I also searchall the universities for their new publications regardingyouth work and NGOs such as Barnardos. Basically, I’mtrying to get new resources into the catalogue on a weeklybasis, making sure you can get everything relevant to yoursearch in the catalogue.

This sounds like a great resource; can you tell mewhy this is? It is a great resource! The catalogue holds records ofthousands of physical pieces and provides hundreds ofelectronic files including academic articles, research reports,government policies, toolkits, handbooks and magazinearticles, all of these are related to young people and youthwork. These resources are all easily downloadable by users.

It’s a wonderful thing to have at your disposal because herewe have all youth work related resources in one place, easyto search and find things relevant to your work or research.We cover very specific Irish youth work topics such asQuality Standards and Garda Youth Justice projects. Becauseour catalogue is so specifically youth work related, youdon’t have to go through an entire public library, or throughthe entire internet to find something relevant. Thecatalogue is very specific and easy to navigate.

And how can youth workers make use of this? Youth workers can use our library to help with their workinterests, practice concerns and research interests. It’s justlike a normal library but specific to youth work! Just go towww.youthworkireland.ie to find the catalogue home page.You can search the catalogue to find everything availableonline or to borrow from us.

Our membership is free, and anyone interested in orinvolved in youth work can come join our library and borrowany books or resources we have. We’re lucky to be able tooffer you this really amazing library service free of charge.

And finally Tina, how can you help youth workersin their use of the library?Part of my job as librarian is helping youth workers accessthe library, what is a library if the resources in it aren’t readafter all? I have quite an intimate knowledge of what is inthe library. So if you have any queries about variousdifferent searches library or what might be useful for yourindividual search I can steer you in the right direction. Justcontact me at [email protected] and I will be glad to help you.I’ve also been helping with some bibliographies so we havespecific lists of resources related to specific areas which Ican give you. I’m here to help navigate the library, I knowthe catalogue, I know the resources. I’m here to help youfind whatever you need.

Meet Tina, the Irish YouthWork Centre Librarian

Here at Youth Work Ireland we have our very own library which isaccessible to all members and a truly wonderful resource. Where

there is a library of course, there is a librarian, and ours is Tina Blau.

Alice Kinsella checks in with Tina to look at what her job entails.

IYWC OPACThe catalogue holds records of nearly 3000 physical items and access to 776 electronic filesincluding academic articles, research reports, government policies, toolkits, handbooks andmagazine articles – all related to young people and youth work. A large proportion of theseitems are indigenous Irish research and as such the OPAC constitutes the largest singlerepository of electronic information related to Irish youth work. See www.iywc.ie for moreinformation.

AnnouncingIRISH YOUTH

MUSIC AWARDS

2015AVIVA STADIUMAPRIL 18, 2015

For more information onhow to get involved [email protected]

18 Scene Magazine Issue 81, December 2014

Relaunch of YouthCafé and 25 Year

Anniversary of YouthWork Ireland Meath

It has been twenty five years sinceYouth Work Ireland Meath firstcame into being, a long road thatcontinues today, Youth Work IrelandMeath has a lot to be proud of! ThisSeptember we had a lot to celebrate,not only had we just celebrated our25th anniversary but we were aboutto re‐launch our newly refurbishedYouth Café and a variety of newprogrammes for our youth groups.

The Youth Café has been providing asafe space and essential support toyoung people in Navan since 2006.Staff, volunteers and young peoplehave worked long and hard toredecorate and refurbish our YouthCafé on the grounds of St. Mary’sChurch, Navan, Co. Meath.

The Work of theYouth Café

The ethos of Youth Work IrelandMeath is to ensure young people arelearning, developing, connected,respected and contributing to theworld. In line with this, this year werolled out a host of new supportsand opportunities for our youngpeople. We are pleased to becontinuing to facilitate our eveningyouth clubs, not only this, but wehave also opened our doors for anew Saturday group for young peopleaged 12 to 16 offering a host ofsocial and developmentalopportunities for these participants.

Our resources reach many differentgroups of people. We currently run asuccessful service for the local LGBTcommunity in conjunction withOutcomers‐Dundalk. We have alsorecently started our new programmesincorporating drop in resources for

young people who are unemployedand young mums and dads.

We look forward to continuing tosupport our local schools providing aspace for local pupils to come andengage with staff and volunteersand enjoy a safe space to play pool,table tennis, computer games andother activities to pass their lunchtime safely.

The Work of YouthWork Ireland Meath

Youth Work Ireland Meath has apacked schedule, aside from all ourwork at the Youth Café we work inmany different areas. We arecontinuing to run mock interviews inlocal schools for senior cyclestudents. We encourage our youngpeople to participate in annualevents such as the recent One WorldWeek where a group of our young

Youth Work Ireland MeathCelebrates 25 Years of Success

19

people developed and delivered a presentation on recyclingwith the guidance of our youth worker Peter Mulligan. Thispiece of work was really enjoyed by the group and our youthclubs benefitted from the hard work they presented to them.

All in all, Youth Work Ireland Meath’s 25th year has been asuccessful and exciting one. Our re‐launch gave us anenormous opportunity to celebrate our redesigned andrefurbished Youth Café while allowing us an opportunity tointroduce our new programmes and supports for our youngpeople, promoting and encouraging their self‐developmentand empowerment.

Our young people are hugely proud of their efforts. TheLocal support shown by the large attendance at the launchgave us a wonderful chance to acknowledge their hard workon their mural, re‐launch and our cooperation with theUNICEF Ireland project. Youth Work Ireland Meath, its staff,volunteers and young people are very proud of this year’swork and we look forward to another exciting and successfulyear!

Article by Maria Griffin, Maria is a Youth Worker withYouth Work Ireland Meath

www.meathyouthfederation.ie


Youth Work Ireland Meath &the International Youth Summit

At our relaunch this year we took the opportunity toremember and highlight our participation in UNICEF

Ireland’s International Youth Summit on 19thSeptember 2014. We cooperated with UNICEF in

developing a project promoting equality, inclusionand diversity for young people; #Itsaboutus.

This project helped our LGBT group created a muralinside our Youth Café. This mural celebrates thediversity and inclusion promoted by Youth Work

Ireland Meath, City of Dublin Youth Service Boardand UNICEF Ireland.

Our representative at the summit was our youthworker Maria Griffin, who is a member of our over

18s LGBT group. The day was a huge successfulmeeting of young minds; an opportunity to share

plans and opinions for an Ireland, and indeed aworld that reflects equality and inclusion whilepromoting the rights of young people globally.

The special guest of the day was Minister forChildren and Youth Affairs Dr. James Reilly who

opened the summit by releasing balloons with thehopes and aspirations of the young people gathered

written upon them.

The European Commission’s ExpertGroup Report on Developing theCreative and Innovative Potential ofYoung People through Non‐formalLearning in Ways that are Relevantto Employability is a comprehensiveanalysis of a difficult topic. Itcorrectly lays a strong emphasis onthe need for understanding non‐formal learning and closing the gapbetween the labour market andinformal learning.

Such thinking is timely given theincreased emphasis on outcomes,certification and employment inworking with young people today. Itis important to understand thedifferent things that are going on inyouth services certainly in Irelandwhen reflecting on these questions.The Better Outcomes BrighterFutures Policy Framework and someof the early thinking on a National

Youth Strategy makes it clear thatincreasingly the emphasis in policy isas much on work with young peopleas youth work. In many respects thisallows for a broader canvass ofactivities and expectations in termsof outcomes.

In many respects all learning shouldbe innovative in its content andprocess, but perhaps we in Irelandhave come to associate the formaleducation sector as lacking ininnovation particularly at seniorcycle and in the area of vocationallearning where repetitive tasks androta learning have evolved as thedominant methods. The formaleducation system is enormous interms of funding, staff andinstitutional strength which may insome way explain the battle thereport indicates for recognition.Setting the priorities as youth work

itself and informal learning arewelcome headline contributionsfrom the report and the EUCommission as both face challengesin the Irish policy environment.

The emphasis from employers onthe formal system and thecertification it gives rise to, is a corefeature of the Irish labour market.While the appreciation of soft skillsshows up in work with employers,the evidence of their actionssuggests something different. Thismakes the challenge incommunicating and explaininginformal learning all the greater.

Drawing on the distinction betweenyouth work and work with youngpeople may be useful as may be theexperience of some Youth WorkIreland members. In some instancesprogrammes offered to youngpeople in the fields of employmentand indeed other fields are actualmainstream formal Stateprogrammes. Where does this leavethe value of the informal approach?Interestingly enough, it is still there.A more formalised programme stillbenefits from the recruitment andoutreach that a youth service brings,also the ongoing supports andaftercare all the mark the youthservice approach in this area.

In the area of youth unemploymentclearly getting young people “astart” is really crucial. Careersgenerally have a habit of lookingafter themselves over time, andexperiences of unemployment laterin life can be dealt with throughnetworking and connectivity. So itmay be a question of youth servicesbeing able to do both informal andformal work in this field, even withthe same young people. In manyrespects this is the natural end ofthe Policy Framework and the Irishemployer’s obsession with formalcertification. This makes the youthservice, in many respects and evenmore important, a gateway. This isnot to belittle the contribution of


RESEARCHReviewDeveloping the Creativeand InnovativePotential of YoungPeople through Non-formal Learning in waysthat are Relevant toEmployabilityExpert Group Report


informal learning, and the need toimprove its reputation andcertification is clear.

Our FETAC system should be able toprovide certification for all sorts ofinterventions and tasks from themost basic to higher levels. In manyrespects a “dual” approach of formaland informal learning is bothidealistic and pragmatic as it seeksthe best outcomes for young peoplein the here and now and realises thefunding crisis that youth work hasexperienced in Ireland in the lastfew years. Similarly many in theyouth work field may fear that this isa new area they are being asked todeal with on a reduced budget.

In more recent times youthunemployment is falling in Ireland, itis important to examine why.Despite the advent of a “Youth

Guarantee” it would appear thatmarket forces are probably doingmore than active labour marketpolicy in reintegrating young peopleinto work. However, with themassive cuts to young people’sunemployment payments it mayalso be fair to assume that the jobsthey are getting are low paid andtemporary.

We need to maintain a focus on thevalues and principles of youth workwhen it is youth work groupsdelivering interventions, whetherformal or informal. Time spent withtrusted adults is still important, as iscritical understanding. There aremany ways to build team workingand other informal skills with youngpeople, but those that involve adultsand young people together will bebest.

It isimportant to berealistic about theEuropean contribution androle. While figures like €6bn seemlike a lot when spread across allMember States and several yearsthe real challenges become obvious.In the end of the day labour marketsremain profoundly local institutionsas the radically different youthunemployment rates in different EUmember states illustrate.

Those delivering youth employmentmeasures through local youthservices know the real challenges indoing so despite the talk of gettingout of silos and the YouthGuarantee. Any support from the EUCommission on youth work andinformal learnings role can only bewelcomed.

Research Review by: MichaelMcLoughlin. Michael is Head of Advocacyand Communications withYouth Work Ireland and hasformerly worked with theESF Evaluation Unit.

21

Research Review

This report was preparedfor the Youth Working

Party, Council of the EU,by Dr John Bamber

(Centre for EffectiveServices, Ireland) with the

assistance of theCommission and expert

group members.

The report candownloaded from:

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/library/reports/creative‐

potential_en.pdf

It was during the Ennis 2020consultation exercise, a processdesigned to find out what people inEnnis felt was important about thefuture of their town, that the issueof feeling safe first arose. In fact, itfirst emerged in a ‘world café1’discussion facilitated by Clare YouthService and supported by theDepartment of Politics and PublicAdministration at the University ofLimerick (UL). This first collaborationbetween youth service andUniversity, designed to get the

views of young people on the futureof the town, indicated that at leastsome young people felt unsafe atleast some of the time. Echoes ofthese views were also heard duringthe consultations with the broaderpopulation. So, for those chargedwith acting on the conclusions ofthe consultation, Ennis TownCouncil, this indicated a need forfurther investigation.

As part of its on‐going commitmentto civic engagement and, more

particularly, to the Ennis 2020initiative, UL offered to carry outsome more detailed research on theissue of community safety, lookingboth at direct experiences of crimeas well as people’s perceptions ofsafety, recognising when it comes tofeeling safe in public spaces, futureperception may be just as importantas past experience. Three distinctsurveys were undertaken, oneaimed at the general populationinvolving 198 people (65% femaleand 35% male); one aimed at seniorcycle secondary school studentsinvolving 118 respondents (86%female and 14% male) and a thirdcarried out by a group of youngpeople in the youth service withsupport from UL and involving 90participants (56% male and 44%female). The differences in thebreakdown between males andfemales is important as internationalresearch in this area would suggestthat females are more likely toexpress fear for their safety whileyounger people, and young males inparticular, are more likely to reportexperiences of being a victim ofcrime. All three surveys asked thesame questions and the opportunityto compare experiences acrossdifferent groups was seen asparticularly valuable.

So, what were theheadline findings?Firstly, the surveys identified thatthe direct experience of crimeamongst the general populationwas lower than that of youngerpeople. Amongst the generalpopulation, 20% of the surveygroup said they had experiencedcrime. While this was a little higherin the school survey at 25%, in theyouth service survey it rose to 33%.While this final number reflects thehigher number of males in thesurvey, it is undoubtedly a cause forconcern. More significantlyhowever was the response aboutperceptions of safety. Participantsin all three surveys were asked if


RESEARCHBRIEFFeeling Safe in EnnisA Research Collaboration betweenClare Youth Service and theUniversity of Limerick

they had felt unsafe at any timeduring the previous year. Whilethose saying yes to this questionamongst the general populationwas 46%, the rate reported in theyouth service survey was 64%,while it was lower in the schoolsurvey at 55 %. A situation wherealmost two thirds of young peoplesay they have felt unsafe duringthe past year is clearly of concernand highlights the many differentchallenges facing young peopletoday. A variety of reasons forfeeling unsafe were cited by allgroups but in general all pointed tothe impact of loud and aggressivebehaviour on the streets,inadequate lighting, inadequatepresence of Gardai , publicdrunkenness, some area specificissues and group specific issues.

While only a portion of the surveyfindings can be reported in thisrelatively short article, thisvaluable collaborative researchbetween Clare Youth Service andUL points to a need to address the

relatively high level of crimeexperienced by young people but,perhaps more urgently, to addressthose factors that have causedyoung people to feel unsafe. Theresearch findings have beenreported to the local authority andto the Gardai, both of whom haveindicated a willingness to workwith the Youth Service to considerthe implications and possibleresponses.

1 World Café is a method of hostingconversations about questions that matter withthose to whom they matter.

Dr. Chris McInerney isCourse Director with theDepartment ofPolitics andPublicAdministration,University ofLimerick


Editor’s NoteIn the youth sector we

assiduously consider thefindings of initiatives such asthe Central Statistics Office,

Growing Up in Ireland and othernational and international

research findings to identifyproblems, trends and

opportunities in order toeffectively engage with the

needs and aspirations of theyoung people we work with.

Given that this research isrepresentative of the population

as a whole, they may not, asseems to be the case in theresearch provided here, be

representative of the youngpeople who we work with –

those in a particulardemographic, or geographic

location. This suggests a needfor collaborations such as that

one described to ensure that weaccurately understand the

experiences, needs andaspirations of the young people

we work with before planningservice provision or policy.

Research Brief


NewLibraryResourcesLaying theFoundations: A Guideto Youth DramaFacilitationby Dave Kelly, 2014Laying the Foundations: a guideto youth drama facilitation is aprogramme of ten dramaworkshops accompanied by notesfor facilitators and advice on the process of facilitating ayouth drama group, all presented in an easily accessibleformat that can be referred to again and again.Facilitation is a live process and not something that canbe fully captured in words. The exercises in this manualprovide basic structure and the accompanying notes andmaterials help with any challenges that may arise andhow to navigate them. This book has been written forall drama facilitators, trainee drama facilitators, newyouth theatre leaders, senior members, teachers andyouth workers who want to develop their dramafacilitation skills.

MeasuringEmployability Skills: ARapid Review to InformDeveloment of Toolsfor Project Evaluationby R.Blades, B.Fauth & J.Gibb, 2012Amid concern about the numbersof ‘NEET’ (young people not in education, employmentor training), there are numerous initiatives focusing onincreasing employability among young people.‘Employability skills’ focus on the personal, social andtransferable skills seen as relevant to all jobs, asopposed to job‐specific technical skills or qualifications.The acquisition of employability skills may be seen as anecessary first step in path towards long‐termemployment. This report summarises a brief review ofrelevant literature undertaken to assess the potentialfor developing a new tool to support the evaluation of

projects aiming to enhance young people’s‘employability skills’: those personal, social andtransferable skills seen as relevant to all jobs, asopposed to specific technical skills or qualifications. Itconsiders the importance of employability skills andrationale for their measurement evaluation.

Transitions to Long‐Term UnemploymentRisk Among Young People: Evidence fromIrelandE. Kelly, S. McGuinness and P.J. O’Connell, ERSIWorking Paper No. 394, 2011Many young people have short spells of unemploymentduring their transition from school to work however,some often get trapped in unemployment and riskbecoming long‐term unemployed. Much research hasbeen undertaken on the factors that influenceunemployment risk for young people during theirschool‐to‐work transition. However, very little is knownabout the factors associated with long‐term unemploymentrisk for those youths that become unemployed. Thispaper attempts to fill this gap in the literature byidentifying the characteristics associated with youngpeoples’ long‐term unemployment risk in Ireland.

A Case Study of One Individual’s Life in theContext of their Unemployment and theirEngagement in a ‘work ready’ OccupationalTherapy Irogramme.Victoria, Morgan, University of LimerickInstitutional Repository, 2012The negative health implications of unemployment arewell documented and wide ranging such as high levelsof chronic disease, impaired mental health and lesspurposeful use of time. Occupational therapy valuesparticipation in meaningful activities which can play akey role in alleviating these effects. The occupationaltherapy department in the University of Limerickfacilitated a ‘work ready’ group programme. The goal ofthe programme was to improve wellbeing andoccupational functioning for those who were unemployed.This research presents a case study of one individual’slife in the context of their unemployment and theirengagement in the ‘work ready’ programme. Thefindings present how the programme facilitated apositive impact on health, increased satisfaction withoccupational performance and a more positive approachtowards unemployment for one participant.

Online Research availablefrom the IYWC’s OPAC Library

24

From January 2015 hard copies of Scene Magazine will beavailable ONLY on a subscription basis for a fee of €20 peryear (4 editions).

Free copies of each edition of Scene Magazine will beavailable electronically from the online platformwww.issuu.com

To receive your free electronic copy go towww.youthworkireland.ie

If you would like to receive a hard copy in the post on a quarterly basisplease complete and return the enclosed subscription form or [email protected]

Free copies will continue to be provided at IYWC and Youth Work Ireland events and toinstitutions and organisations on an archive basis.

Scene Magazine

Important News for Readers

issuu is a free digital

publishing online platform

that attempts to simulate

the experience of reading

a print publication online.

issuu is accessible on any

mobile, tablet or android

www.issuu.com

26 Scene Magazine Issue 81, December 2014

Budget 2015Budget 2015 saw the return to a more positivesituation in the public finances with no major cutsto public services. However there was no recognitionof the need to redress some of the damage done inpublic services for young people. A less reported ondevelopment was the second ComprehensiveReview of Expenditure mapping out the spendinglimits for the forthcoming years. In the case of theDepartment of Children and Youth Affairs morecuts are envisaged with Youth Informationparticularly being singled out for attention. The CREenvisages early consultation on these matters andthis will be critical.

National Youth StrategyFollowing on from the publication of theDepartment of Children and Youth Affairs PolicyFramework, Better Outcomes Brighter Futures,work has now commenced on a further substrategy aimed at the youth population. This willnot be a youth work strategy but focused on workwith young people. A steering group has beenestablished to work in this area. Unfortunately thetimescale is extremely tight and the level ofrepresentation of the voluntary sector, who arerecognised as the key deliverers of youth workunder the 2001 Youth Work Act, is very poor.

Youth UnemploymentThe last few months have presented a mixedpicture on youth unemployment. A downwardtrend has continued but it has not been uniform interms of non‐seasonally adjusted figures.Emigration remains a major issue as confirmed bythe CSO’s migration estimates in August. The factthat these figures are produced annually and notrelated to the unemployment figures is a majorflaw in our system of statistics. It appears thatunemployment and youth unemployment areresponding to the beginning of economic recovery,but little of this improvement is due to theGovernment’s labour market policy.

Child Protection and GardaVettingDespite improvements in waiting times andvolumes for Garda Vetting the system continues toraise concerns. Reports that a considerable numberof teachers have not been vetted suggests adifferent approach to staff working with NGOs andcharities. A thorough review of the system withnew legislation approaching seems to be in order. Apassport system which would allow staff effectivelybring vetting with them when changing jobs wouldmake a difference to the system and be cost free.

POLICY BRIEFYouth Work Ireland’s Policy Brief aims to inform and updatepractitioners about current developments in national policy Compiled by Michael McLoughlin, Youth Work Ireland

Junior Cycle Student AwardThe need for reform in the formal educationsystem at second level is well established at thisstage. There are several reports from the NCCA onhow things can be changed to improve the systemfor young people, the country and employers. Thenew Junior Cycle Student Award is the result ofyears of research and debate. With its movetowards more assessment and more realisticproject type work it has been welcomed by groupssuch as the Second Level Students Union andVoices of Youth. Teachers need to reconsider theirindustrial action in this context.

DCYA Statement of StrategyAs part of new procedures in public servicemanagement each Government Department nowmust produce a statement of strategy againstwhich its performance is measured. These areeffectively the business plans for Departments,they set out the high level objectives and themethods by which these will be achieved. TheDepartment of Children and Youth Affairs iscurrently preparing its Statement of Strategy andhas invited submissions.

Joint Oireachtas Committeeon Health and ChildrenThe Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health andChildren held a meeting with Gordon Jeyes thenew CEO of the Child and Family Agency TusLA onSeptember 25. The discussion was wide rangingcovering all aspects of the work of the agency andissues relating to children. In July James Reilly thenewly appointed Minister for Children and YouthAffairs gave the quarterly briefing to thecommittee. The presentation covered places ofdetention, children first, the children and youngpeople’s participation strategy, ERASMUS+ andother areas.

Ombudsman for ChildrenThere has been considerable change at theOmbudsman for Children’s Office with thedeparture of the first Ombudsman Emily Logan tojoin the Equality and Human Rights Commission.Great credit is due to Emily Logan for establishingthe office and setting out its role and remit. It wasa very significant period of change in the area of

children’s rights during this time and several longlasting initiatives were taken. It is positive thatyoung people will be involved in the recruitmentof the new Ombudsman.

Direct ProvisionAfter many years of criticism and pressure fromdomestic and international commentators thegovernment has announced its intention toexamine the system of direct provision for asylumseekers. This system, where asylum seekers live indesignated accommodation where food and boardare provided, is seen to be particularlyproblematic for children in terms of theirdevelopment, socialistation and education. Thereview is aimed at examining the system but it isunclear if the issue of payments will be addressedand already there appears to be disagreement inGovernment circles on the issue. Youth serviceshave a proud record of working with young peoplein direct provision from day one.

The Voice of the Child inFamily LawThe newly established Law Centre for Childrenand Young People (Ireland), in partnership withthe UCC Child Law Clinic, are organizing a freepublic seminar: The Voice Of The Child In PrivateFamily Law Proceedings: Experiences From TheIrish And U.S. Courtrooms. This event is open tothe public but will be of particular interest to legaland other professionals supporting children andfamilies in legal proceedings, members of thejudiciary, academics, policy and law makers, front‐line service providers and NGOs.


Downloadthe fulledition ofYouth WorkIreland’sPolicy Brief

scene magazine, issue 81, december 2014

Documents

practice of youth work

youth work context

irish youth work centre

youth sector

team work

main purpose of youth

theworld of work

edition matthew seebach