Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth publishes its report on ‘The Future of Youth Work’

Launching the report, Deputy Kathleen Funchion, Cathaoirleach of the Committee said “Young people are one of our greatest resources. They are also one of our greatest responsibilities. We need to create a society that enables them to flourish. We need to respect their rights, needs and wishes and to support them to overcome the many challenges facing society and to constantly review what we are offering them, by way of supports and experiences, so that youth work can move with the times. As this report demonstrates, youth work has a pivotal role to play and needs to be appreciated and resourced accordingly.”

Report Rapporteur Senator Lynn Ruane said “This report will offer a glimpse into the culture and crucialness of youth work in Ireland, as a safe haven for our young people, and a space for empowerment and positive change. Youth work encourages new perspectives to evolve, enabling young people to be active citizens, and empowered individuals.

Senator Ruane added “The individuals that work within the sector play a very specific role in empowering our young people, essentially filling in the gaps in a system that is struggling to meet the needs of young people. When we consider the future of youth work, we should be prioritising one that recognises and respects the valuable contributions of youth workers, and the domino effect their commitment has on our children and our communities. We must create a workforce that young people can see themselves working in.”

Read the Full Report on The Future of Youth Work

Some of the key recommendations included in the Report are:

• The Committee recommends that every young person in Ireland should have access to local, accessible, high-quality youth work services, delivered by paid professionals.
• The Committee recommends that youth work should be subject to an all-of-Government approach, to ensure that the youth sector receives adequate attention and focus, at national level.
• The Committee recommends the implementation of multi-annual budgeting and investment for the youth sector, to allow medium and longer-term programming with greater confidence.
• The Committee recommends that the Department embed and prioritise detached street outreach work in future policies relating to young people and youth work. Additional investment in detached street work should be separate to existing programmes, to aid the roll-out of detached street programmes around the county.
• The Committee recommends less restrictive percentage ratios in respect of how youth workers can spend their time, to ensure that youth workers feel empowered to meet the needs of the young people they are working with, often being led by the creative and responsive nature of youth work.
• The Committee recommends that specific supports are developed to support young people aged 18-24 when engaging with adult services, to ensure a continuum of care.
• The Committee calls for the formalisation of the provision of youth services with young people aged 6 to 10, establishing this in future policy and funding schemes.
• The Committee recommends that the youth work sector should be embedded as a key partner in addressing the social and economic structural inequalities facing young people in Ireland, highlighted within the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, and the National Youth Strategy.
• The Committee calls on the Department to prioritise the recognition and professionalisation of youth work. Increased funding and pay parity are essential to this, but so too is the provision of continuous professional development.
• The Committee recommends that a specific policy framework should be developed for the youth work sector, to harness and protect its distinctive contribution to working with young people as well as to support youth workers and service providers.

Read more about the work carried out by The Joint Committee on Children,Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth