Issue 34: November 2001 - Youth Work Ireland

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has the obligation of caring for those in need within theirlocality. At the centre and providing the Inspiration for thissort of development in Ireland over the last thirty yearshave been voluntary social services or communityco uncils. The most important disti nctive features of thesewere the fact that they were based in, related to, andesta blished by the local co mmunity. They were concreteexamples of individual communities facing the needs andproblems of their own communities and channeling theirenergies and resou rces to help themselves. This wholemovement is an attempt to return to locally based help forthe needy which was the case in the past. Generallyspeaking, ind ustrialisation and urbanisation in 19thcentury Europe led to Statutory Social Welfare provisionin the way we know it. Prior to this, relief for the poor anddestitute was an integral fu nction of local parish andcommunity life.There have been in the last century various efforts torestore and refashion the Pre-Industrial revolutionemphasis on the local community's concern for the wellbeing of all it's members. We have had for example thesettlement work of Samuel Barnett in the East End ofLondon or Sir Horace Plunkett's co-operative movementin this country. It is not unfair to say that Governmentsgenerally tend to fight shy of such developments andcannot provide realistic fu nding which was required for itto take root. A vibrant involved local community meansreduced alienation, opportunities for self fu lfillment,feelings of powerlessness overcome, improved individualand group self image, and generally increased co mmunityinteg ration and co-operation. Much has been done in thisarea loosely called community development and muchstill needs to be done in rebuilding co mmunity local ly.These various types of Councils were concrete examplesof individual co mmunities fa cing the needs and problemsof their own community and channeling their energies andresources to help themselves. This has improved thequality of life in many local communities and helped thecommunity to develop its fe eling of self worth, and reta inpower over its own co mmu nity life, Statutory services,however extensive and effective cannot provide this sortof community development. Perhaps most astonishing ofall was the facility with wh ich a number of co mmunitiesresponded and the wide range of developments onvarious levels which were initiated.Open Ended Development and Specialist ServicesAny of us who has been involved with Community orSocial Services Councils will be very conscious of how thedevelopment of a service leads inevitably to analysis,discussion, and identification of a new need and thereforeprogrammes or services to meet those needs. None of usinvolved with the Centre would have been aware of thespecialist services and the personnel and facilities whichwould have been needed here. Much has been providedand there will be an opportunity to plan fresh responses tonew needs. I don't want to preempt or anticipate thatdiscussion but let me make one suggestion.Within each community there is a stock of untappedresources. People, in responding to the need of their owncommunity, thereby improve the feeling of self worth of thecommunity, create a feeling of effective ness and a senseof contributing to their own wellbeing through localinvolvement in local based voluntary organisations. It isessential to create mu ltiple types of opportunity to helppeople to become involved in various forms of communityservice. In particular there are people prepared to play apart on an occasional basis but who are unable orunwilling to make the permanent commitment of joining anexisti ng organisation. In this context publicity andrecruitment systems and a comprehensive volunteerbureau structure could be of immense value in every area.That leads me on quite naturally to another importantissue. One of the negative phenomena of the last decadehas been the disintegration of quite a number of areasacross the county of the particular model of communityawareness and involvement. Indeed in some areas therehas been a virtual disengagement from theneighbourhood and co mmunity life by significant sectionsof the local population. We have see n, what weassociated in the past with very large cities or with foreignco untries, becoming a reality in even small towns inIreland: Contact with only a handful of neighbours; Noknowledge of co mmunity needs, concerns, developmentand structures; An unwillingness to become involved incom munity organisations or in providing com munityservices; Availing of some community provisions only onthe basis of self-interest ('community consumers") and notinvolved at all as 'community producers'.People have tended to isolate themselves domestically,and television and other forms of home entertainment andthe increased pace of modem and work life haveaccelerated this process. Recent su rveys in Britain forexample show that nearly a third of the population hasnever spent one evening with a neighbour. Professor. John Locke of the University of Sheffield, writing in TheGuardian on March 11 th 2000 had this to say in a 1997study of over 1000 British office workers: nearly half saidthe Internet had replaced face to face co mmunication;over a thi.rd said they used email deliberately to avoiddirect interactions. Verba lly abusive 'flame mail' wascommonplace, often leading to a complete breakdown ofrelations. This is not the great global society we werepromised.The problem lies in the nature of human communication.We think of it as a product of the mind, but it's done bybodies; faces move, voices intone, bodies sway, handsgesture. Evolution provided each of us with specialisedIrish YouthWork SceneNovember 2001
Networks across the eligible areas• Advise on issues relating to allocations from theNational Lottery surplus• Oversee the publication of a com prehensivemanual of funding and regular updated versions• Undertake a formal review of the workings of theGrou p after a three-year period.The Membership of the Group is as follows:organised by the Department of Health and Childrenin the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone .The need for these new National Sta ndards toensure consistency of care had been identified andhighlighted by the Social Services Inspectorate intheir inspections of ch ildren's residential homes.The standards cover all areas affecting the life of achild in a residential care environment including:Co-chairsDeirdre Carroll (Social, Community & Family Affairs)Brendan lngoldsby (Health & Children)Community/Vol untary Sector RepresentativesTriana Nie Giolla Chaille (Community Worker's Cooperative)John Dolan (Disability Federation of Ireland)Kate O'Sullivan (Carmichael Centre for Volunta ryGroups)James Doorley (National Youth Council of Ireland)Sylvia Meehan (Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament)Maureen Kavanagh (Aontas)Statutory Sector RepresentativesEileen Kehoe (Dept. of An Taoiseach)Philomena Poole (Director of Community &Enterprise, South County Dublin)Micheal O'Corcoran (Social, Community & FamilyAffairs)James O'Grady (Mid-West Health Board).Kathleen Stack (Tourism, Sport & Recreation)Niall Mccutcheon/Stephanie O'Donnell (Justice ,Equality & Law Reform)• Their rights• Care planning for the child• The care of young people• Protecting and safeguard ing them• Their health and educationFor a copy of the Standards documentand/or further information contact:Department of Health and Children,Hawkins House,Dublin 2.Tel: (01 ) 6354000Fax: (01 ) 6354001LoCall: 1890 20031 1Website : www.doh. ieFor further Information contact:The Information Service,Department of Social, Community andFamily AffairsAras Mhic Dhiarmada,Store StreetDublin 1 .Tel: (01 ) 8748444.Website: www.welfare.ieThe Minister for Social, Community and FamilyAffairs, Dermot Ahern is extending the Back toEducation Allowance Scheme in a bid to enhancethe job prospects of early school leavers. FromSepte mber th e Back to Education AllowanceScheme will be extended to people aged between18 and 20 years , getting an unemployment or loneparent payment for at least six months and whohave been out of the education system for twoyears. Periods spent on FAS training co urses, FASJob Initiative, Yo uthreach, Jobstart or Job Assist canalso count towards the six-month qualifying period.Prev iously, those who were unemployed or getti ng aOne Parent Family Payment had to be aged 21 orover in order to avail of the scheme. The Back toEducation Allowance is payable to people who wishto pursue approved second or th ird level courses ofThe Minister for Children, Mary Hanafin, T. D., education. During the 2000/2001 Academic year,launched new National Standards for Children's 5,605 people took part in the Back to EducationResidential Centres on 10 September at a Allowance Scheme.conference on Best Practice in Residential Care
Page 1 and 2: IrishYouth Work0SceneVolunteers Res
Page 3: ternational Year of the VolDecember
Page 7 and 8: Taking Ownership ofYour Own Communi
Page 9 and 10: Crazy or Caring?the examples of goo
Page 11: see this principle at work in youth
Page 15 and 16: ResurcesIs Counselling Training fo
Page 17 and 18: Exchange - Give it a Go! (2000)By t
Page 19 and 20: On Wednesday 3 October 2001, the Mi

Issue 34: November 2001 - Youth Work Ireland

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