1. Background to YOUTHREACH 2000 - A Consultative process

1.1 The origins of the consultative process

The decision to launch YOUTHREACH 2000 - A Consultative Process was prompted by a number of factors. For example, there was the approach of the year 2000, and the likelihood that Ireland would lose its former Objective 1 status in Europe in whole or in part, with consequent implications for education and training actions. There was also the clear evidence of social and economic change throughout the 1990s. The imminence of a new Operational Programme under the umbrella of the National Development Plan was also a factor as was the attendant need to mainstream projects funded under Employment/Youthstart and parallel mechanisms.

The National Co-ordinators also wished to reflect what practitioners were reporting - that the programme needed to evolve to accommodate social and economic changes, particularly the emergence of a dynamic labour market. It was also their view that all enterprises should re-evaluate their mission every five years, with a view to redefining it and revitalising practice. Consequently they asked 'those who operate the programme, those who manage it, those who participate in it and those who observe it' to look at YOUTHREACH to establish whether the model was still appropriate and how should it develop for the future.

Accordingly, a paper was circulated in March 1999. It did not contain proposals. Instead, it set out a framework of ideas and operational modalities. As the authors pointed out, it was 'an opening statement in a consultation process'. They added that it was 'intended as a trigger to discussion', that it was 'not a blueprint'. They wanted 'practitioners to respond, individually and collectively' and added that 'staff in Centres and/or Workshops should also be involved, as should participants'.

Responses were invited and received. In SeptembeOctober 1999, the National Co-ordinators conducted a series of open consultation meetings throughout the country, presenting the initial findings from the first phase of the consultation and inviting comment. The outcomes of these meetings have been incorporated into this final report on the process.

1.2 The wider context - external changes since 1989

YOUTHREACH has not existed in a vacuum during its first decade. The intervening period has seen a series of developments, each of which impinges on the programme's operation. Of particular significance in this regard is the development of a policy-based approach based on agreed principles, and espoused in a broad range of documents such as Social Partnership Agreements, National Plans and Green and White Papers on Education, Human Resource Development and Adult Education. Priority for the disadvantaged has been a feature of national policy through the 1990s, and has elicited increased funding as national resources have permitted, culminating in the lunch of the New Deal in December 1999.

Research has played a fundamental role in extending our perceptions of poverty and disadvantage. For example, research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute (for the Combat Poverty Agency) demonstrated that many of those living below the poverty line were not living in socio-economic blackspots. Similarly, other research has focused on labour market patterns, educational disadvantage, how schools differ in attitude and effectiveness, and so on. Arising from such research, new programmes and initiatives have been launched. Some of these have been in or linked to schooling. Others have been in training and in employment services. Many developments have focused on communities. They all have the alleviation of early school leaving and educational disadvantage as a common objective.

Such developments are still in train, as is evident from the recent passage of the National Qualifications Act through the Dáil and the Education Welfare Bill through the Seanad. When enacted, this latter legislation will significantly alter the landscape in which YOUTHREACH operates. The school leaving age will rise to 16, schools will report early leavers to the new authority (the Education Welfare Board), and the Board's officers will broker arrangements whereby young people who have been excluded from school will attend alternative education and training programmes. As regards qualifications, the first candidates for the Junior Certificate sat their examinations in 1992, and the NCVA was established in October 1991. Major contemporary developments in training include the introduction of Bridging Training as an entry mechanism to standards-based Apprenticeship and Specific Skills Training, as well as the Integrated Assessment System of Certification.

Finally, two other major external changes should be noted. The first of these is the arrival of the information age. The second is the present economic boom with its attendant buoyant labour market and skills shortages. It was pointed out during consultations that these were very distant visions when the programme was launched in October 1988.

1.3 Changes in YOUTHREACH since 1989

A decade after the programme's launch, there are 74 YOUTHREACH Centres and 47 Community Training Workshops, as well as six FAS/Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform Justice Workshops. In addition, the 28 Senior Traveller Training Centres are now included as part of the overall programme. A broad range of courses is provided, and a range of key supports has been developed. Diverse qualifications options, incareer development, guidance services and information technology are all now features of YOUTHREACH. The principal focus for workshops and centres is the Foundation level. However, throughout the programme there is an increasingly complex pattern of diversification and individualisation, in which young people are facilitated in both internal progression taking, for example, the Junior Certificate, Leaving Certificate Applied, NCVA or FAS certification, and external progression, to an increasing range of education or training programmes or the labour market.

The programme has already passed through three broad phases. During the first phase, the programme was established, developed and consolidated. In the second, from 1993-7, Workshops and Centres reported waiting lists, certification mechanisms were developed and a range of new delivery and support needs were identified, both by staff and by evaluation reports. Moreover, questions were raised concerning the simplicity of the early definition of early school leaving and the adequacy of scale of our responses.

The third phase has been characterised by increased labour market activity - early school leaving has increased nationally while youth unemployment has fallen. Young people are now taking jobs earlier and with lower levels of qualification. Waiting lists are shorter in workshops and centres, where they exist at all, and providers are developing more innovative ways of working with young people to take account of the dynamism and volatility of the labour market. It has also been suggested that the programme's inter-departmental character is less obvious than at the outset, and the 'brand name' of YOUTHREACH is now more usually associated with provision within the education system.

In parallel, other positive developments may be seen. These include the increasing range of progression options opening up for YOUTHREACH participants, and the focused supports available such as national certification frameworks, guidance and counselling resources, advocates, and so on. They also include experience of Youthstart, Integra, Leonardo da Vinci, the Combat Poverty Demonstration Programme and other innovative programmes in training and education. Policy frameworks are developed in the White Paper Human Resource Development and the recent Green Paper on Adult Education. Above all, it is now accepted that early school leaving is a central issue and fundamentally affects young people's life chances. Hence the recognition of the importance of the work done in the programme.

This is the point that YOUTHREACH has arrived at. Ten years old, and looking forward to the next decade. Early school leaving may have changed but, as recent research demonstrates, it hasn't gone away. So, how will the programme evolve to meet the challenges of the next ten years? These will include changes accruing from policy decisions, such as the National Education Psychological Service, the forthcoming Education Welfare Service, changes in the school-leaving age, developments in the Employment Services, changes in the law regarding conditions of employment of young people.

Looking back at the developments referred to in 1.2 and 1.3, it is clear that YOUTHREACH operates in an evolving environment, not a fixed one, and that the future is immediate and tangible, if not necessarily predictable. It is an insight to be borne in mind when contemplating future directions.