Supporting Youth Transitions in post-Lockdown society through Detached Youth Work

This European Project supported by Erasmus+ via Leargas addresses the social economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people in Europe, focusing on those socially excluded. A consequence of lockdown is that the number of young people disconnected from employment, education and training supports will increase. In Ireland, for example, young people have been disproportionately affected by Covid 19 unemployment (ESRI, 2020). Lockdown has caused discontinuity of service for youth. Those young people previously facing challenges are likely to have experienced a complete disconnect from services and supports and will now need new supports to transition back into services.

The project will deliver:

• A research report that documents and evidences extreme forms of social exclusion (including radicalisation) being experienced by young people due to failure to transition back from lockdown, as well as adaptations and best practices in ‘Detached Work’ to address this will also be documented as well as any evidence for the effectiveness or challenges related to this work.
• A case study collection which captures the experience of young people, youth workers and service managers in effectively connecting young people who have been previously socially excluded, to understand and suggest policy and service changes to address extreme forms of social exclusion; these will describe the situation and effective interventions
• A detached youth work practice framework based on a peer review and facilitating a continuous improvement process

Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash