Workshop coaching encouraged particularly 21–24-year-olds and young people with at least upper secondary education to continue studying and younger people to complete their upper secondary education. Outreach youth work in municipalities is not always proportional to the service need.
Outreach youth work and youth workshops are tailored activities that aim to help young people facing the risk of social exclusion. Both services are mainly provided by municipalities, but the activities are supported by discretionary government transfers.
The National Audit Office of Finland examined the results and effectiveness of youth workshops in 2013–2016, and the allocation of the resources and cost efficiency of outreach youth work in 2014–2017.
Studying increased particularly among over 20-year-olds and young people with upper secondary education
Workshop coaching steers particularly those who are over 20 years and have already completed their upper secondary education to study for a new degree or vocation.
The 17–20-year-olds without upper secondary education completed their upper secondary education more often than the control group within a year after the coaching period. However, workshop coaching was not found to have an impact on the participants’ employment.
“Youth workshops should be developed so that they would more clearly support under 20-year-olds and young people without an upper secondary degree in their studies and in completing their upper secondary education,” says Tanja Kirjavainen, Principal Performance Auditor.
The efficiency of outreach youth work could be improved by allocating discretionary government transfers also according to regional need
According to the target, outreach youth work should be available in all municipalities in Finland. However, the youth work services in municipalities have not been proportional to the factors representing the service need among young people, such as the share of young people not in education or training nor in working life.
“The efficiency of outreach youth work could be improved by allocating discretionary government transfers also according to local service need,” says Tanja Kirjavainen.
According to the Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government, the operating conditions and financial resources for outreach youth work and youth workshops will be reinforced within the next few years. In addition, the Government’s project for extending the compulsory education sets out youth workshops as one of the study and support forms included in the compulsory education.
Read the publication: Effectiveness of youth workshops, and resources and efficiency of outreach youth work
Read more about good governance and the audits conducted by the NAOF: VTV.fi
Additional information
Tanja Kirjavainen
Principal Performance Auditor
Audit
