European Commission: Effective outreach to NEETs - Experience from the ground

Since its launch in 2013, the Youth Guarantee has supported millions of young people across the European Union (EU) to find a job, a traineeship, an apprenticeship or to continue in education. Yet despite this, too many young Europeans are still without work. Across the EU, more effort is needed so that all young people can benefit from quality offers under the Youth Guarantee. This report is one in a series of five reports on Youth Guarantee delivery, presenting existing practices from the ground from the first five years of its implementation. It outlines lessons learnt, challenges and success factors, aiming to inspire and help all actors involved in delivering the Youth Guarantee. The report looks at measures to better reach out to young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), and to encourage them to register for Youth Guarantee schemes.

The aim of this report is to highlight existing practices, lessons learned, challenges and success factors on improving outreach to NEETs.

• Firstly, the report discusses the concept of outreach work and delivery models as well as the need to tailor practices to the diversity of NEETs.
• Secondly, it gives an analysis of current approaches carried out before the young person becomes inactive (prevention and those to support young people who are already NEETs.

This is followed by a reflection on how to build inclusive partnerships to support outreach. The report also includes ‘top tips’ that are meant to summarise the main practical considerations under each approach. The focus of this report is on prevention, early identification, reaching out to and contacting NEETs.