Presentation for the international conference “Support for youth work development in Latvia and Europe”. /Nerijus Miginis, Institute for Policy research and Analysis, Lithuania/

1. Variety of youth work in EU.
Case: Youth worker certification
system in Lithuania
Nerijus Miginis, Institute for Policy research and Analysis (Lithuania)
5th of November, 2014 #strategic #iResearch

2. What is youth work in Europe?
Publication: Working with young people: The value of
youth work in the EU, 2014

3. Why it is difficult to define youth
work in Europe?
• Does youth policy equal to youth work?
• Are all youth NGOs providing youth work services? Does youth
participation equal to youth work?
• Should youth worker be paid or work as a volunteer?
• Who is providing this service NGOs, State, Business, Church or
all?

4. What to take in to consideration
creating youth work system?
• What qualification should youth worker have? University
degree or qualification gained after training program?
• Is it possible to recognize competencies a persona already
has?
• Is youth work a new function, service provided or
reorganization of existing structures (hobby education)?
• Were do we place youth work? Which policy domain? (Sport,
Education, Youth, Integrated)

5. Other aspects
• Who is paying for youth work services? State? Municipality?
Business? Service user?
• What aims do we set for youth work: leisure time activities?
Education? Teenager pregnancies? Helping to solve social
issues?
• Other…

7. What is youth work in
Lithuania?
• Educational activities directed at young people or their groups
during their leisure time activities, based on their needs,
aiming create conditions for integration of youth in to life of
society and empower them to create their personal life,
consciously and actively participate in life of the society. Youth
work supplements formal education and family education.

8. Who is a youth worker in
Lithuania?
• Youth worker – an adult, working with youth at their leisure
time, aiming personal and social development of young
people through individual work different youngsters and
groups of youth, having needed competencies for this job.

9. Qualified youth worker
 21 - 45 years old
 secondary education + 5 years of youth
work experience (min. 350 days) OR
higher education + 3 years of youth work
experiences (min. 200 days)
 all generic youth work competences are
assessed above 60% of required level
 certificate is issued to confirm the
qualification

10. Recognition of qualification based
on prior experiences
Application
Info meeting with
the selected ones
Certificate is
issued
Competence assessment with the
accredited Tutor
Commission makes a decision
Recommendation to attend
qualification course

11. Getting qualification without (sufficient)
prior experience
Application
Certificate is
issued!
Commission makes a decision
Initial assessment
Accredited qualification course with
the integrated competence
assessment

12. Accredited qualification course
(“secure route”)
5 modules with integrated field practice and competence
assessment
Example of the module
seminar (4-5
days)
Min. 40 hours
field practice
Competence assessment in dialogue
with tutor (individually or in a group)

13. Youth worker training modules
To get the 30 competencies you have to go through:
1. Youth work context and personal development as youth
worker
2. Youth age psychology
3. Individual youth work
4. Working with youth groups and difficult behavior
5. Methodologies of working with youth
6. Organization and project management

14. What is needed in the future:
• Detached youth work (from 2012);
• Work with specific target groups –NEET’s (from 2015);
• Mobile work with youth;
• Other…

15. Interested in Detached youth work?
TC Detached youth work: UK, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
2015 Jan 17-23
• With this project we want to create opportunity for the Baltic states:
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to further develop youth work systems in their
countries by institutionalizing detached youth work practices which are
conducted in UK and Norway.
• Contact: marius.ulozas@gmail.com or nmiginis@gmail.com
• https://www.facebook.com/events/331627227016370/

16. Contacts
Institute for Policy Research and Analysis &
Lithuanian association of non-formal education
Gedimino pr. 21-2, Vilnius, Lithuania
nmiginis@gmail.com
www.institutas.EU
@institutasEU
#strategic #iResearch