Background
Although all children and young people in Norway have the right to education and health and welfare services, recent research has highlighted that some young people are not being reached by public support services and do not receive the help and follow-up they are entitled to. Young people who, for various reasons, are at risk of social exclusion are especially vulnerable to being overlooked by public services. The BarnUnge21 strategy identifies a need for knowledge about challenges and solutions in the practices and cooperation of services and activities for children and youth. Voluntary low-threshold services have been pointed out as important arenas because they often reach young people whom the public sector does not, contribute to social inclusion through their activities, and act as intermediaries between young people and the public apparatus. Despite this, voluntary low-threshold services and the interaction between such services and public services have been very little investigated in existing research.
Aims and Research Question
The purpose of this project is to contribute to knowledge about the role of voluntary low-threshold services in the social inclusion of children and young people and the cooperation between such services and public services in areas of education, welfare, and health. The project focuses particularly on practices for inclusion in voluntary low-threshold services for young people. It is a competence and collaboration project that aims to generate new insights and ways of working.
The main research question for the project is:
- How can voluntary low-threshold initiatives, alone and in collaboration with the public sector, ensure that all children and young people have access to and receive the support they need in welfare, education, and health, regardless of their background and circumstances?
The project is conducted in collaboration between the Institute for Social Research, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, the Norwegian Red Cross, Save the Children, and the Church City Mission.
Project Organization
The project is organized into four work packages:
WP1: Patterns of Marginalization: Children and Youth at Risk of Exclusion from Support
A central question for this work package is whether voluntary low-threshold services reach these young people in the risk zone or if they are entirely excluded. A better understanding of this is crucial for identifying and reaching out to young people in this group. This work package aims to investigate the exclusion of youth and young adults from public services in welfare, education, and health, and their participation in low-threshold voluntary activities by statistically mapping, examining, and analyzing their relationship to risk factors at the individual and household levels. It will contribute to this by investigating cumulative risks for social exclusion.
WP2: Inclusion in Practice: Voluntary Low-Threshold Initiatives for Children and Young Adults
Previous research highlights a need to describe the role of voluntary low-threshold services to better understand their unique practices. This work package aims to increase the understanding of how voluntary low-threshold measures engage with vulnerable young people through practices in various institutional settings and social contexts, and to explore to what extent and how they address the needs of young people. It first aims to describe what people do and say within these voluntary activities. Then it will illuminate the configuration of practices, roles, and relationships between staff, volunteers, and participants. Finally, it will investigate the demarcation of practices related to these different groups.
WP3: Voluntary-Public Collaboration in Support of Vulnerable Children and Youth
Voluntary and non-profit actors can often reach young people that the public sector finds difficult to reach. Voluntary low-threshold services can be crucial for establishing contact between young people and the public apparatus, helping them navigate the public system, and channeling their interests, preferences, and needs. However, there is little knowledge about how collaboration between such services and the public sector works and what determines success or failure. Against this background, this work package will explore the conditions that promote or hinder voluntary initiatives' cooperation with public services and to what extent and how they influence each other through their interactions. Furthermore, it will investigate to what extent and how voluntary initiatives function as intermediaries that facilitate young people's access to public services, so they can receive support tailored to their needs.
WP4: Towards Better Practice, Collaboration, and Public Policy
This work package aims to contribute to better practices, cooperation, and public policy in the support and follow-up of children and young adults. More specifically, it aims to summarize and integrate the knowledge generated in the project, to provide an overview of key findings, and facilitate theory development on public service delivery to vulnerable children and young adults. On the other hand, the work package seeks to contribute to reflective practice and innovation among practitioners in the voluntary and public sectors working with children and young adults. The work package is based on an interactive research method that involves repeated interactions and joint learning between researchers and practitioners to produce shared knowledge relevant to both research and practice.
Data and Methods
Empirically, the project will use a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative research methods as a starting point. The project will combine case studies of voluntary low-threshold services and activities through observation, semi-structured interviews, and original survey data collected within the various activities and from different participants. These case studies provide an entry point for "deep" descriptions of practices and interactions in voluntary low-threshold services and their cooperation with services and actors in the public sector.
The project materials will be made available in the Open Science Framework.
