YOUTHREACH was established as a programme in October 1988 by Mr Bertie Ahern TD and Ms Mary O'RourkeTD. At the time they were respectively Minister for Labour and Minister for Education. The programme targeted young people who had left school with no qualifications and drew together a number of strands from the education and training spheres. The network of Community Training Workshops was already in place and the first YOUTHREACH Centres as such were opened in February and March 1989.
The programme has grown and changed over that period. Three separate stages of development may be discerned, and a broad body of experience and professional practice has emerged. But how might YOUTHREACH evolve to meet the challenges of the next decade? In March 1999, the National Co-ordinators launched 'YOUTHREACH 2000 - A Consultative Process'. A paper was circulated which presented a framework of ideas rather than a set of proposals - and responses were invited from 'those who operate the programme, those who manage it, those who participate in it and those who observe it'. This document is reprinted in Appendix 1.
A range of submissions was forwarded to the National Co-ordinators. They also engaged in discussions with a number of key groups involved with the programme. In September and October 1999 a series of open consultative meetings was organised at which initial findings were presented and further comments invited, preparatory to the final report being written.
This document reports on the outcomes of that consultative process. It has been compiled on behalf of the National Co-ordinators by Dermot Stokes.
A Brief Outline of YOUTHREACH has been appended for those unfamiliar with the programme and its operation. It gives details of early school leaving in Ireland, as well as describing a range of supports and developments in YOUTHREACH. It has been prepared by the Department of Education and Science.
Dermot Stokes, National Co-ordinator YOUTHREACH, Department of Education and Science
Guss O'Connell, National Co-ordinator YOUTHREACH, FAS
Gerry Griffin, National Co-ordinator Senior Traveller Training Centres
May 1st 2000