Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.61.3.5
Elements of Formal Support for Youth Workers in Croatia
Dunja Potočnik
orcid.org/0000-0003-1256-2660
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the fragility of organisations and institutions
providing assistance to young people. While young people are facing uncertainties in
their transitions, traditional safety nets have undergone a series of ruptures, and youth work
providers are stretched between the needs and aspirations of young people and the scarce
resources they have at disposal. Non-governmental associations in the field of youth provide
a form of “out-of-school education managed by professional or voluntary youth workers that
contributes to the development of young people” (European Commission, 2009, p. 11), often
without a strong and structured support in tackling their professional challenges. This is especially
pronounced in the cluster of 13 EU Member States, like Croatia, which, on average,
have lower success rates in many fields (e.g. median income1). The public institutions of those
countries demonstrate inadequate policy responses to youth vulnerabilities and requirements
of the youth non-governmental sector. This paper focuses on the relations between experiences
of youth workers within the organisational environment of youth organisations, with a focus
on support received during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the analysis of respective national
public policies. The semi-structured interviews conducted with eight youth experts and youth
workers in 2021 focused on the institutional and policy framework and support structures for
youth work during the pandemic. The analysis employed the Attride-Stirling (2001) model of
thematic network. Five themes crucial for contemporary youth work in Croatia were identified:
1) prioritising youth; 2) cross-sectoral cooperation; 3) administrative and financial aspects
4) recognition of youth work, and 5) digitalisation and reinvention of youth work.
Keywords
young people; youth workers; support structures; Covid-19 pandemic; youth policy
Hrčak ID:
314506
URI
Publication date:
21.2.2024.
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