9th International Symposium REACHING THE UNREACHABLE International Society for Mobile Youth Work September 2008, Stuttgart, Germany Mobile Youth Work within the System of Youth Welfare Service Dr Lasse Siurala, director of youth, City of Helsinki

Dr. Lasse Siurala, Director of Youth, City of Helsinki Curriculum vitae Researcher, acting associate professor of economic sociology at the Helsinki School of Economics ( ) - Director of Youth, City of Helsinki ( ,2002-) - Director of youth, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France ( ) - Married: 2 sons, one daughter - Non-formal learning: 1st President of Finnish Karate Fed, Finnish Champion (1974) Recent publications: EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR YOUTH POLICY. Council of Europe, Council of Europe Publications 2006, Strasbourg NON-FORMAL LEARNING AS AN EDUCATIONAL APPROACH, in Dorin Festeu and Barbara Humberstone (eds.) Non-formal education through outdoor activities guide. Buckinghamshire 2006, UK A EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR YOUTH POLICY: WHAT IS NECESSARY AND WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE? Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN FINLAND, René Clarijs (ed) Leisure & non-formal education, Prague 2008

1.The polarisation debate and the policy responses 2.Towards local children and youth policies 3.Positioning mobile youth work

”The general welfare has increased – so have the welfare differences” Moisio&Karvonen&Simpura&Heikkilä (eds): Welfare in Finland 2008

A good welfare of the majority of young people Positive trends The successful youth Negative trends Youth at risk Welfare of children and young people in Finland higher educational level low unemployment ’career missiles’, the media and cultural stars etc the sporty, the cosmopolitans, increase of total abstinence increase of poverty in families, with small children increase of child care clients mistrust in representative democracy health problems: obesity, bad physical condition, insufficient rest, depression, binge drinking, allergies, net-dependency etc.

0-6 yrs7-12 yrs13-18/21 yrs Care Early intervention Basic services General early prevention Beveridgean social policy Neo-liberal risk-policy Nordic Welfare policy ’Positive welfare Policy’ Child care measures, children in custody, psyciatric services, substance use treatment Social work, support services at the school, work with families, targeted youth work, mobile youth work Kindergarten, day care, children’s playgrounds, comprehensive education, health services, youth work, sports and cultural services, libraries etc Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people - A holistic view

Department of Youth, City of Helsinki - public responsibility on services for youth  54 Youth Centres and  specialised services like Youth Information Centre, Media Centre, Cultural Centre, Domestic Animal Farm, Theatre, Nature House, House of craft and visual arts, Traffic Education Centre, Youth Centre for Girls Only, indoor skating hall, 21 outdoor skate parks, two camping islands, residential education centre, Virtual Youth Centre, Virtual Cultural Arena, LAN party facilities etc  300 municipal professionally trained full-time youth workers  Cultural activities, contests for amateur bands, street and show dance, theatre, media art etc  Democracy education  Support to youth at risk  Support to youth organisations  Free for a membership card (free of charge 2009-)  Budget 25Me (2008)

Social inclusion through youth work (Helsinki City youth service) Early general prevention Targeted intervention Reintegration Youth centres and other specialised centers (virtual&IRL) cultural youth work support to youth NGOs and action groups youth work in multimedia context counselling (virtual&IRL) democracy education street work (virtual&IRL) work shops (production schools) ’cultural interpreters’ supporting Roma youth complete compulsory education Personal reintegration plans for youth at risk (cross-departmental)

Towards a local youth welfare system - the process of the Children and Youth Welfare Plan in Helsinki Legislative basis: The Child Care Act 2008 and Youth Work Act 2006 A joint venture between 4 departments of the city (Youth, Social, Health and Education) to prepare a 4 year policy plan ( ) for the City Council on the welfare of children and young people

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?

Mobile youth work within the system of youth welfare service – selected questions. Where does the legitimation to mobile youth work come from and how does it affect its work – does it matter who’s songs you are singing? oThe neoliberalist rationale: It can be calculated on purely economic terms that mobile youth work produces good Social Return of Investments (SROIs). oThe human rights approach: We need mobile youth work because it is a human right of those in need to get help – like street kids from street workers. oThe Public Safety priority: We need mobile youth work to work with the ‘anti-social’ youth to preserve the safety of the citizens and good condition of the public sites.

Mobile youth work within the system of youth welfare service – selected questions. What is a good balance between measures on care, targeted intervention and early general prevention – can there be too much of mobile youth work? o Is there a point where increasing workload on mobile youth work should be met rather by more resources on basic services or on heavy care measures than by more resources on mobile youth work? o Concerning your municipality – what should be done to improve the balance between the 3 types of services?

Mobile youth work within the system of youth welfare service – selected questions. Should Mobile Youth Work be linked to a larger municipal youth welfare system – considering potentialities and threats? o Potentialities: Facilitates co-operation with other sectors, produces synergies, guarantees continuity… o Threats: Increases bureacratic procedures, decreases flexibility, may create a negative image change; loss of trust among young people…

Challenges: (1) How to avoid the bad record of global integrated policy plans? (2) How to involve young people themselves in the process? (3) How to negotiate between the different interests of the departments involved? (4) How to link the different professional working cultures? (5) How to govern and manage interdepartmental cooperation? (6) How to get more visibility to children and youth affairs?