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ČAS

The project Street Work for Children and Youth

Support of Social Work with At-Risk Children and Youth at the Area of Prevention of Pathological Phenomena

Focussed on Clients' Work-Skills Training (Social Entrepreneurship)

and Mobile Social Work in Excluded and Remote Areas.

At the turn of the years 2012 and 2013 the Centre for the Quality and Standards in Social Services, one section of the National Training Fund in the partnership with the Czech Streetwork Association has got a large project focused on children and youth at-risk. The project was awarded and is generously financed by THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS from Denmark. We are very happy to say that our organizations have succeeded among more than 200 projects.

The Foundations support among others major social initiatives, cultural projects and projects on the environment and sustainability in Denmark and other European countries.

Main project activities

The activities will be targeted at socially excluded and remote locations as well as the fast growing suburbs of big cities.

Activity No. 1 Social Entrepreneurship - a chain of charity stores with training job positions for the target group of 16 - 25 years olds.

The development of the chain of social enterprises will start in Prague (Czech Region), later on in Brno (Moravian Region). Other places will be determined later on by real situation and needs.

Activity No. 2 Providing mobile social work services in excluded and remote areas aimed at a target group of 6 - 20 years olds and their families.

During the first months of the project we actually determine the need for provision of social services and identify areas for youth oriented social field work in excluded locations where it would be inefficient to build ”brick and mortar” facilities.

Activity No. 3 An ongoing support of the project activities sustainability - fundraising and lobbying targeted at local/regional/national authorities.

Specialist - fundraiser/lobbyist will do seek for support and cooperation of local and national authorities.

The target groups of the project

Target group No. 1 Young people between 16 and 25 years of age who are failing in their roles at school and employment, have dropped out of school, and/or leave their original family or orphanage without having created their own background. Typical traits: insufficient work and social habits (problems with being at work on time, consistency in attention-demanding activities, communication with other people - especially with the authorities), education only at a primary school level, which substantially disadvantages them in the job market. Solution offered by the project: training job positions for disadvantaged clients.

Target group No. 2 Children and youth aged 6 - 20 years in excluded areas who hang out around their neighbourhoods, skip classes, gradually start using alcohol and drugs. They are disadvantaged in their access to social services (street work, counselling) that are concentrated primarily in the cities. Solution offered by the project: providing access to social services and providing preventive educational programmes to clients and their families (support of financial literacy and fight against usury).

Main objectives of the project

Specific short- and long-term objectives defined for the project

Principal objectives aimed at introducing new approaches, which would help to address this situation.

Activity No. 1: The aim is to use training positions to provide clients with employment experience, basic work habits and required work experience that would increase their chances of success in the job market.

Activity No. 2: The aim is to make social services in the CR available to clients living in excluded areas through mobile street work aimed at youth, children and their families.

Expected outcomes of the project

Activity No. 1 An operational chain of stores run as social enterprises. Dissemination of know-how (guidelines, professional backup, training) to other regions through CAS with the methodological support of NTF).

Activity No. 2 Providing of mobile social work in the selected areas using prepared methodological guidelines and trained workers - transfer of the practice to other regions.

Activity No. 3 Establishing of contacts with local administration officials in order to obtain further financing of both social enterprises and mobile field work introduced by the project.

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