Educational Concepts for Social Inclusion on the Labor Market of Young People at Risk

Abstract

The European policies through its own funding programs underline the increase need for creating educational models for people at risk. Many official documents speak about vulnerable groups of the European society, constantly creating categorizations that are not always understandable and relevant for social workers with activities in social inclusion. Slightly less is discussed about the failure of some implemented programs to facilitate the social inclusion of vulnerable raised within the social assistance systems of the Member State .In Romania also, for some years now, a series of social integration models for youngsters which come from the child protection system was experimented, which unfortunately can’t always be considered good practices. These young people abandoned by their families, are abandoned for the second time after graduation by the system in which they grew up and which offered them a range of services and protection measures, but without access to the labor market. Through the opportunities opened by the adult education system it is possible to develop some innovative training concepts for these young people which often do not require state protection by basic services, a house and food, but adequate employment opportunities. This article analyses the European and Romanian possibilities for the inclusion of youngsters at risk by proposing the implementation of a training and employment system through apprenticeship in local workshops or Small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This model offers youngsters a place of work where they can practice their competencies, a mentor from which they can learn, the experience of a job environment and of course a minimum income for their work. This training concept can be included and valorized by establishing a legal framework to facilitate the public-private partnership, the cooperation between adult education institutions, local businesses and child protection systems, for the benefit of this disadvantaged category.