Test Drive | Page 20

Youth Development Office

Youth
Development
Office
Youth work is given formal statutory
recognition in the Youth Work Act 2001,
which defines it as: “a planned programme
of education designed for the purpose of
aiding and enhancing the personal and
social development of young people through
their voluntary involvement, and which is
complementary to their formal, academic
or vocational education and training and
provided primarily by voluntary youth
work organisations”. The definition stresses
‘the fundamentally developmental and
educational nature of the work; the fact that
it rests on the voluntary participation of
young people; and the fact that it has been,
and is, in the main provided by voluntary
organisations’.
Youth work engages young people from ten to
twenty-four years of age, a significant period
in terms of young people’s development.
Flexibility of approach and focus on
interpersonal relationships, enables it to offer
an educational process complementary to

20

that provided through formal education. In
addition, Youth work often acts as referral in
the interface with other youth- related issues
such as care, health, and welfare.
Under the Education and Training Boards Act
2013, Kildare and Wicklow ETB has been given
the legislative responsibility of supporting;
“the provision, coordination, administration
and assessment of youth work services in
its functional area and provide(ing) such
information as may be requested by the
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in
relation to such support.”
(Section 10 (1) (j)).

For further information please contact:
KWETB Youth Development Officer
Alison Fox
Kildare & Wicklow ETB, Church Street,
Wicklow Town
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]