Preventing and addressing youth homelessness through access to social rights
FEANTSA Study Session
Sunday 2 March to Saturday 8 March 2014
Budapest, Hungary
Council of Europe Youth Centre
Preventing and addressing youth homelessness through access to social rights
APPLY NOW online at: http://www.amiando.com/feantsastudy...
Deadline for applications: 22 November 2013 by 12:00 CET
This study session will build on FEANTSA’s focus on youth homelessness. The session will bring together 35 young people (ideally under age 30) to learn, share experiences and to build a network of knowledge and advocacy on youth homelessness.
Aims and objectives of the activity
We see the study session as an opportunity to develop skills on:
- Human rights education, and in particular social rights and the Revised European Social Charter;
- How to better support access to social rights for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness;
- How to raise awareness about social rights among young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and amongst professionals working in the field;
- Practices to help combat discrimination against young people, particularly when they try to access their social rights.
We want to:
- exchange experiences on these issues
- learn about best practices for helping young people learn about and access social rights
- draft a toolkit on access to social rights for young people
Who should apply?
Participants should be:
- young (ideally under age 30, but some exceptions will be made),
- involved in homeless service provision as an employee or volunteer, or involved in human rights education, social services, etc.
- able to communicate in English
- enthusiastic and energetic
- interested in learning about and promoting access to social rights for young people
Application process:
- Register now online: http://www.amiando.com/feantsastudy...
- Deadline for applications 22 November 2013 by 12:00 CET
- Participant selection completed by 30 November 2013
- Participants will be selected based on:
- Motivation, knowledge of youth homelessness issues, experience with youth work, human and housing rights, advocacy, geographic balance, and age.
- 2 – 3 participants will be chosen from each country
- December – 2013 – the 35 successful applicants will notified
Costs:
- All travel, accommodation and meal costs will be covered by the Council of Europe
- Participants will be responsible for incidental costs including snacks, drinks, etc.
Outline of the daily programme envisaged. (The programme will be finalised during the preparation process and at the preparation meeting between the educational advisor and the team – between December 2013 and February 2014).
The programme will include the following elements:
Human rights education:
- how to reinforce a rights based approach in participants’ work
- learn more about social rights, and in particular about the young people and social rights
- exchange practice on raising awareness about social rights amongst young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
- 1 – 2 days
Learning and exchanging views on the following topics:
- Define barriers for young people to access social rights
- how to help young people overcome barriers to access social rights: e.g. access to housing, access to social protection and benefits. This exchange would be supported by a background document on different social protection systems and regulatory structures of the countries involved in the study session – provided by FEANTSA
- communicating with young people about homelessness and social rights
- tools and practices for working with young people to prevent homelessness or help them out of homelessness
- empowerment and participation of young people in homeless services
- multiplier effects: how can participants share new information with their colleagues once they return to their organisations
- project and information sharing: – time will be set aside for participants to give a brief presentation on a project or programme or website from their own organization
- 3 days
Local visit
- Visit to partners in Budapest working with young people, e.g. The City is For All, BMSZKI, and The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. The visits will give participants an opportunity to share examples from their own experiences, and ask specific questions to both the staff and young people involved.
- ½ - 1day
Peer Review
For instance, Homeless Action Scotland’s http://www.leavinghome.info is a tool kit for schools on preventing homelessness. Ahead of the study session, we would ask all participants to look at the website, read through the content, and consider whether this type of toolkit would work in their organisations and cities. Participants will discuss this tool in small group discussions and analysis, and facilitate a conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of using such a toolkit, process, etc.
Non-formal Education
The Study Session is an interactive experience during which we expect the participants to learn from each other and through activities, scenarios and discussions.
The Council of Europe is a leading expert in this field of education and we are certain that this experience will be valuable for all participants.
Expectations following the session:
Participants will be expected to take the information and ideas from the session back to their own organisations and local/national contexts to share with their colleagues, and hopefully inform their daily work.
Participants will be encouraged to continue exchanging with each other on youth homelessness through email, social networking and other tools that FEANTSA will support following the session.
Contact details:
English
Events
