Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet

Árborg municipality in southern Iceland has put a lot of emphasis on supporting young people who are at risk of social isolation and helping them become active in society, either through education or work. 

The youth centre Zelsíuz has been focusing on this with children aged 10-16 in cooperation with the municipality, and now a special project is helping young people aged 16 and up who have problems finding their feet socially and too often end up claiming benefits.

Activating isolated youths

The Zelsíuz youth centre special support program has been running since 2016.

“The aim was to bring in socially isolated children and youths in order to activate them,” says Guðmunda Bergsdóttir, head of Zelsíuz.

“At first, we wanted them to participate in activities at our centre. We started cooperating with the municipal welfare service and got funding to employ a person who could focus on the project. We received the youths at the centre and had one-on-one talks with each of them once a week. 

“The main aim here was to do something that the young people were interested in, for example playing a videogame, and have talks with them while doing that. And then we gradually worked with them to get them more active in our work.” 

Bergsdóttir says that this project has developed over the years. In addition to the employee who focuses on the projects, other staff at the youth centre have been doing the one-on-one interviews.

“We want the employee and the youths to have similar interests to make it easier to connect with them. We have five staff members doing those interviews.”

From inactivity to playing football

The municipality welfare service has systematically pointed youths they think can benefit from it to the centre. 

(Left to right): Leader of the Zelsíuz youth centre Guðmunda Bergsdóttir, Elja employee Thelma Sif Kristjánsdóttir Elja project leader Ellý Tómasdóttir.

“They get cases where the person is isolated and inactive. The youth centre can help them find something that works for them. We’ve even sometimes gone home to kids who don’t want to leave their room. That way, when they come to the youth centre, they already know someone there.”

Bergsdóttir says they have seen great progress in their work. 

“We had, for example, a girl in year 9 who had almost stopped going to school and was fairly inactive socially. She started meeting with one of our staff and then got to know the facilities at the centre. 

“She then started showing up at the centre in the evening. This changed a lot for her – she started practising football and going regularly to school again. She was with us for a year and a half and the change during that time was huge. 

“Then she went to upper secondary school and today she is doing really well. It’s great to have had the opportunity to help her and other individuals and see such progress.”

The first step is the hardest

For many of the youths, the most difficult thing is taking the first step – in this case coming to the centre. 

“When you don’t know the environment, it is difficult to take that first step and they often need some help with that. It can help them to previously have had a one-on-one talk with someone who works at the centre.

“When we eventually get them to come, we help them to try new things, find something they like and make friends. And if that is too overwhelming for them, we also have the option of smaller group gatherings.”

New project provides continued support

But the need for support does not necessarily end when you are out of secondary school. In Árborg, it all started with an educational trip to Finland for municipal social services staff.

“There we got an introduction of a so-called Outreach Youth Work which we were very impressed with,” says Ellý Tómasdóttir, project manager at Elja, a support organisation helping young people who face challenges in accessing education and employment.

“So we wanted to do something similar that would be a continuation of the support at Zelsíuz. Some of the youths still need support when they’re too old to go there. At social services, we have seen that there is a gap in the support for ages 16-18. 

“If they’re not strong socially and don’t go to upper secondary school, they’re out of sight until they’re 18 and by then they might even need financial support. In these cases, we would have wanted to act earlier.

“So we wanted to build a service that would also serve as a bridge between systems and ensure that these individuals don’t get lost in between. We started to build that system and got financial support from the Ministry of Education and Children.

“When that support ends in 2027, we will have a project that other municipalities can use and we will have a manual for it.”

Building up good routines

This service is intended for youths aged 16-29 who are neither in school nor working.

Thelma Sif Kristjánsdóttir, who works full-time on this project as an activation consultant, says that the service is gradually starting up.

“Right now we are servicing 22 individuals. Half of them receive social benefits from the municipality. We are working on the more challenging cases within the municipality where the individuals need more support.

“We meet them at least once a week, even more often if they want to. We try to make the individuals who have been inactive for a long time more active in their daily lives and build up a good routine – for example when it comes to sleeping, eating and exercising.

“Some of them want to study or work and we support them on that journey. We already have some connections with companies and institutions in the area.”

Small things can be a big challenge

Tómasdóttir ads that this can apply to things that most people consider simple, like taking a walk in a shop or driving between car sales. These things can be a big challenge for those who have been inactive for a long time.

“That is something the advisors can do with them for support. This can save their day and sometimes it is all it takes. They can do anything with them – go to the gym, for a walk, anything they want. This is a service you can’t get in many places.”

Tómasdóttir says that part of the preparations was to start cooperating with other social, educational and health institutions, both local and national.

“That is very important, especially cooperating with work rehabilitation institutions. So this has started really well. But one of the challenges we face is the lack of part-time jobs.

“Those who have not been active for a long time but want to work might not be ready for a full-time or even a half-time job and need support and even discipline to do it. It can also help them to get socially active.”

Building bridges

One of Tómasdóttir's goals with this project is to ensure greater continuity in youth support.

“The system here, and probably elsewhere, is that someone supports you until you’re 18 and the door closes and the next one is supposed to take over. We want to break that up and build bridges between these systems. So we adjust to the individual, not vice versa.”

Kristjánsdóttir is happy with the way things have gone so far. The individuals are different so it varies how ready they are to make the necessary changes.

“I think we have done well in the short time that we’ve had available. We have for example supported an individual to go back to upper secondary school after dropping out. We have individuals who haven’t been active for a long time participating in social activities.

“And the main thing is that we have the time and space to take good care of each individual.”

Monitoring continues post-project

Tómasdóttir adds that when a person is discharged from the project – which still has not happened because the project is new – the staff still supervises progress to prevent a backlash.

For the longer term, Tómasdóttir hopes that getting more people active will lower the number of youths on benefits.

“It is important to create a positive attitude around receiving help. When we are 16-18, we are usually not sure where we want to go, so then it is good to talk to a professional about it.”

Kristjánsdóttir adds:

“We also want to take early action to prevent other problems that could emerge if no action is taken. That would be a huge benefit. The longer someone is inactive the harder it is to get going.”

Tómasdóttir explains that the value of a service like this cannot easily be measured in financial terms or reflected in the accounts—at least not in the short term.

“Our dream is to help those who need it as soon as they graduate from secondary school. And we can catch them if they drop out in upper secondary school and don’t have the support at home to get back on their feet.”