PROJECT ENDED

Introduction

The primary intervention project "Discover Yourself" (Atrask save) was implemented between Lithuanian Public Employment Service, called the Lithuanian Labour Exchange (LLE), acting as a leading partner, and the Department of Youth Affairs (DYA). Each institution coordinated a separate strand of the project targeting different NEET groups.

LLE’s programme wass designed for active NEETs who are officially registered with LLE as unemployed whereas DYA targeted inactive NEETs.

The project offered early intervention services that focused on the development of motivational, social and labour market skills through engaging NEETs in voluntary activities, various trainings, traineeship and apprenticeship experiences as well as providing them with psychological counselling, skills' assessment and other measures to enhance their motivation for work.

Aims and objectives

The purpose of the project "Discover Yourself" was to reduce the number of young people aged 15-29 who are neither in employment nor in education or training (NEETs) by implementation of early intervention and activation measures considering the type of target group he/ she is attributed to and assessing the needs and opportunities of a person.

Tasks:

• To boost opportunities of inactive young people aged between 15-29 of integration into the labour market, education system, taking part in a traineeship or apprenticeship by implementing social, educational, psychological and motivational services;
• To promote opportunities of a young person unprepared for the labour market to integrate into the labour market, education system, take part in a traineeship or apprenticeship;
• To implement additional skills and competence raising measures for unemployed young people aged 16-29 ready for the labour market.

General Information

Implementation start date: 1 October 2015

End date: 30 September 2018

Body responsible for implementation: Lithuanian Labour Exchange under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour; partners - teritorial labour exchanges, Department of Youth Affairs under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, 58 partner organizations.

Budget: 25 583 761,01 Eur (of which 23 509 401,77 eur - ESF and YEI funding)

Planned number of partricipants:  35 635

Main activities

⇒ Young people registered with the PES with no marketable occupation in the labour market and early school leavers:

• take part in trainings on promoting motivation, deeper self-awareness, boosting self-confidence and personality strength, promoting communication, independence and social skills, etc.
• Then, with the help of a psychologist young people find the best focal point between working skills, professional interests and personal characteristics, i.e. find out the type of employment that is most suitable for him/her – an employee, a representative of educational system or a self-employed person, also which type of occupation meeting the needs of the labour market is personally most suitable for each one of them.
• Employment oriented young people are be able to actually get to know the occupations, i.e. try them out in a working environment with the help of a technical mentor, have direct contact with employers, get acquainted with the working environment.
• Those young people, who are more likely to be self-employed are organised trainings, meetings with small scale businessmen for the purpose of taking over the best practices.
• Young people oriented to the educational system are presented with educational institutions, their requirements for those wishing to enrol, efficient learning measures and shadowing service, i.e. when a specialist of the selected occupation shows tasks performed during his work in a particular company.
• In the end of the Project such young unemployed people take part in an itinerant self-assessment workshop. The acquired experience, knowledge, meeting the expectations of the participation in the Project and future plans are overviewed during the workshop. Also experience trainings are arranged including different engagements, contributing to the development of communication and team work skills.

⇒ Unemployed young people with occupation and registered with the PES, who lack specific competences or social skills are organised trainings on additional skills and competences, the missing occupational competencies are gained while participating in an informal occupational training activity.

The Project was organised at no financial costs or inconvenience to the participants of going to the training sessions. The organiser of the Project took care of transportation of the participants from a place convenient for him and for taking him back home.

During the Project, participants with no marketable occupation in the labour market or early school leavers constantly were communicated by a personally appointed specialist working with young people – a coordinator, who constantly kept in touch with the Project participant and provided all necessary and required Project related information to him and information on opportunities to get involved into the labour market or re-enter the educational system. A specialist working with young people – a coordinator was a link between a Project participant and service providers to participants.

 Considering individual needs and opportunities of each Project participant the participation could take from two weeks up to three months.

⇒ Department of Youth Affairs in cooperation with partners – young people and organisations working with young people, open youth centres and open youth environments – provided activation measures to young people who were not employed, not in education or training, and were not registered with the PES, in regards to the type of proposal that the young person is willing to receive: proposal of employment, education or apprenticeship.

Experienced youth employees and specialists of work with young people employed with Project partners provided the following services to young people around the country: minimum child care; self-awareness support; training of social and life skills; motivation; information and advising on opportunities of a young person; inclusion into activity beneficial to the public; mediation between educational institutions or territorial labour exchanges; voluntary activity organisation services.

These services were provided according to individual needs of each young person applying different forms of youth employment and techniques of informal education, with essential focus on individual performance. Diverse and flexible application of measures, methods and services to a young person, constant reflection of results of activities, individualised work with each young person in regards to the results of work with him / her (changes) increased possibilities of a young person to receive a good-quality offer of education, employment or apprenticeship.

Evaluation

The assessment of preparation to start the activity was carried out in 2015 (link to the assessment).

Main findings:

• STRENGTHS:  YEI is programmed under the key national strategic documents (Operational Programme for the European Union Funds’ Investments in 2014–2020 and the national Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan); LLE and DYA cooperate to implement YEI projects; A network of project coordinators has been established at a local level; YEI target both active (registered unemployed) and inactive NEETs; Individualized assistance is provided to each YEI participant; Great variety of services is offered, including new types of services; Participants of the YEI project „Discover Yourself“ who do not receive unsubsidised offers for a job, traineeship, or continued education will be offered participation in the second YEI project ‘New Start’
• THREATS: improving economic conditions and subsequently decreasing number of potential project participants as well as declining importance of the NEET youth issue on the political agenda; lack of interest among local stakeholders to provide support to the project coordinators; lack of interest among NEETs to participate in the YEI activities; shortage of vacancies in some regions of Lithuania.

Monitoring: project monitoring was carried out by the experts of the project administration group, project partners, PES staff, also by the Agency of European Social Fund and project steering group in the Ministry of Social Security and Labour.

 Project Scheme

During the implementation of the project “Discover yourself” (21/09/2015–30/09/2018) 44 869  thousand participants participated in the activities of primary intervention. 7422 took part in DYA activities and 37447 participants took part in PES activities: social, psychological, motivational activities, activation for inactive youth (7422 participants), volunteering (906 inactive youth and 765 registered in PES participants), group activities for unemployed not ready for labour market (19477 participants), identification of proffessional skills and personal interests for unemployed,  not ready for labour market (18660 participants), introduction to labour market for unemployed not ready for labour market and oriented towards hired labour (12573 participants), introduction to educational system for unemployed not ready for labour market and oriented towards education (2802 participants), informal professional training for unemployed ready for labour market (1861), motivation events (8603 participants), development of additional skills and competences for unemployed ready for labour market (5505 participants). 2678 unemployed, not ready for labour market, oriented towards self employment, were introduced to self-employment. 13362 unemployed, not ready for labour market, participants participated in seminars.

in 2018 - 2019 an evaluation report, a social study on the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of YEI, including the implementation of the YG was conducted by „BGI consulting“ (https://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/europos-sajungos-investiciju-ir-jaunimo-uzimtumo-iniciatyvos-veiksmingumo-efektyvumo-ir-poveikio-iskaitant-jaunimo-garantiju-iniciatyvos-igyvendinima-vertinimas-1).