Youth work practice needs to be guided by a youth work policy that …

allocates resources that are appropriate in relation to aims.

Youth work is often poorly funded if seen in relation to the often broad and abstract aims (democracy, equality, etc.) set by policy. Policy, if taken seriously, often demands miracles, but does not at the same time offer resources that are even close to sufficient for their realization. However, setting aims that are not possible to reach with the resources given is well known to be counter-productive. They devaluate the value of having aims, and they make management almost impossible. Just as counter-productive is setting aims that are so abstract that their transformation to concrete objectives could end up just about anywhere.

Youth work policy therefore needs be specific in relation to what should be achieved and what it takes in terms of resources and organisational capacity. Focusing on aims and objectives related to young people’s participation, influence and learning makes this a whole lot easier…

Do you agree on what this means in practice?
Do you agree on to what degree youth work meets this bullet point?
Here you find the questions you need to discuss to find out!

If you think that this is something you need to work on, click the “Add to development agenda” button below. You will then find your agenda on your personal page and be able to start a development process.

Please note!
If you start a development process related to this bullet point you will find the below questions also under the page “Discuss and assess”. There you will also be able to take notes.

Questions to discuss

Are the local aims of youth work so clear and measurable that it is possible to estimate how much resources are needed to reach them?
Is the allocation of resources for various local youth work activities knowledge-based, i.e. based on evaluation of previous outcomes and on up-to-date information on young people’s needs, interests and ideas?
What are the risks of not being able to measure and show the relations between the amount of resources and quantitative and qualitative outcomes?

References & tips

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of Recommends that the governments of the member States, within their sphere of competence, renew their support for youth work by:1 ensuring that the establishment or further development of quality youth work is safeguarded and pro-actively supported within local, regional or national youth policies, as appropriate. Taking into account the diversity of youth work across and within member States, special attention should be paid to the need for strategies, frameworks, legislation, sustainable structures and resources, effective co-ordination with other sectors, as well as to related policies that promote equal access to youth work for all young people. Youth workers and young people should be actively engaged in any planned measures for implementation; Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on youth work, 2017
The Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council invite the member states to:Promote different kinds of sustainable support for youth work, e.g. sufficient funding, resources or infrastructure. This also implies removing barriers to engaging in youth work and where appropriate create strategies on youth work. EU Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the governments of the member states, meeting within the Council, on youth work, 2010