Strengthening youth work

The goal of the assessment

The assessment’s main question was whether youth work has been strengthened in line with the objectives of the strategy and budget. The City Strategy aims to strengthen outreach and detached youth work and to secure youth centre operations throughout the city. The division also aims to strengthen its own basic and open activities and train its staff, for example, in introducing operating models to prevent violence and loneliness among young people. In addition to written and statistical material, the key assessment materials included interviews with the management of Youth Services, youth work units and representatives of outreach and detached youth work.

Conclusions

Youth work has only been partially strengthened in accordance with the strategy and budget objectives. The number of youth facilities, their square metres, and physical accessibility have deteriorated, and due to the staff shortage, neither basic nor open activities have strengthened. In contrast, outreach and detached youth work was strengthened during the coronavirus pandemic. The increase in detached youth work staff was mainly temporary, with employees moving back into open youth work when the youth centres reopened after the coronavirus pandemic. Youth work has been developed by training staff in accordance with the objectives, but the introduction of new operating models for the prevention of violence and loneliness is still ongoing. Some youth centres have insufficient human resources to carry out their core activities.