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1. Programmes for vulnerable young people 

2. Funding

3. Quality assurance

Programmes for vulnerable young people

This section provides an overview of key programmes and services addressing the social inclusion of vulnerable young people in the Czech Republic. It outlines the main types of interventions, their institutional framework, funding arrangements, and quality assurance mechanisms, with a particular focus on services implemented at the local level.

Most important central level programmes:

Youth-targeted programmes

1)      Inclusive Education – based on Decree no. 27/2016 Coll. and other programmes supporting social inclusion of young people in education (primary, secondary, higher education, out-of-school education – for details see Chapter 6.6.

2)      Youth Guarantee – support of youth employment 

• Reach: Implemented nationwide through the Labour Office of the Czech Republic for young people up to 29 (including NEETs).
• Funding: Co-financed by ESF+ and the state budget.
• Effectiveness/Evaluation: Ongoing monitoring is in place; no comprehensive public evaluation of the current period has yet been published.– for details see Chapter 3.6.

3)      Low Threshold Centres for Children and Youth Support

 Social Activation services for families with Children Support

The Czech Republic has no overarching youth integration programme dealing with all aspects of social inclusion of young people. a number of programmes and initiatives exist within state public policies, each addressing specific aspects of youth social inclusion. Some are interconnected, while others operate independently or address a single issue,

In general,  There is significant decentralisation and outsourcing of social inclusion activities. The state usually provides resources for other actors, such as NGOs or municipalities, to implement programmes or EU-funded projects as public services.

As social inclusion measures need to be done mostly on a local level, most central-level programmes are implemented locally, especially by municipal authorities. Some programmes are only co-financed through state subsidies to secure social inclusion at local level, often via NGOs (for more information please see Chapter 4.2)

Low Threshold Centres for Children and Youth 

Low-threshold facilities for children and youth are social services under Act no. 108/2006 Coll. on social services providing free ambulatory or outreach services to children and young people aged 6–26 at risk of social exclusion. Their aim is to prevent or reduce social and health risks, support orientation in the social environment, and assist users in addressing unfavourable life situations. Services may be provided anonymously and include educational, activation, social-therapeutic activities, mediation with the social environment, and assistance in exercising rights.

In 2019, there were 256 centres in the Czech Republic, in 1998, it was only 20. There no new data for 2025.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs offers every year a subsidy programme to run low-threshold facilities for children and youth based on the Act on Social Services. 

Social activation services for families with children

Social activation services for families with children are a form of social service according to the Act no. 108/2006 Coll. on social services. They are mobile and/or drop-in services provided to the family with a child at risk of endangering their development or threatened in their development due to the impact of a long-term difficult social situation that parents cannot overcome without help and for which there exist additional risks to its development. The service includes educational and activation activities, mediation of contact with the social environment, social therapeutic activities and assistance in exercising rights and legitimate interests. The service is provided free of charge.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs offers every year a subsidy programme to run Social activation services for families with children based on the Act on Social Services. 

Early care platform

Early Care is a comprehensive system of programs and activities aimed at supporting at-risk children from birth to age 8 and their families. These activities aim at the all-round development of children, whether in their natural environment, in a pre-school centre, in kindergarten or in the first years of primary school. Early care helps in health, social and educational areas. There are children and families who need more support – children who we know in advance are at risk of possible school failure, growing up in uninspiring environments, in dormitories, in poor housing conditions, in families that deal with fundamental existential problems every day.

The purpose of early care is to prevent the emergence of social handicaps, as a result of which children do not reach their potential.

Financed by endowment funds.

Funding 

Funding for youth social inclusion varies by programme type. Activities embedded in legislation, particularly those classified as social services, receive regular state budget funding. However, most services are decentralised and often provided by non-state actors, making competitive grant schemes the predominant funding mechanism. While appropriate in principle, this model is frequently criticised for its lack of long-term stability, as results in this field typically emerge over time.

The European Social Fund (ESF) represents an important complementary funding source, especially for new systemic projects and for piloting new methodologies and approaches, involving both state and private actors.

Low-threshold centres are mainly funded through European and national programmes, including EU operational programmes such as the Operational Programme Employment (OPZ/OPE) and national resources from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA). These grants typically support both operational and development costs and may in some cases cover up to 100% of eligible expenditure. Key funding bodies also include the Agency for Social Inclusion and local governments, with additional support available through the National Recovery Plan.

Social activation services for families with children in the Czech Republic seek subsidies primarily through EU operational programmes - such as Integrated Regional Operational Programme (IROP) and OPZ and national resources from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA).

Quality assurance 

The Quality assurance of the programmes differs. Those under the scope of social services or in the field of mediation are regulated by the Act on Social services, Act on mediation and Criminal Youth Act as described above.

All areas are working with the project logic and thus all state goals, aims, objectives and measures which could be indicated and thus evaluated. On the public side the outcomes are usually available in the annual activity reports. The systemic projects also include internal evaluation and quality assessment measures. They will, however  only be available after projects have been implemented for a longer period or completed.