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1. Policy/legal framework

2. Main inclusive Youth-Work programmes and target groups

Policy/legal framework

Youth work in Czechia has no single legal framework, but social inclusion is addressed through grant programmes or NGO initiatives.

The Czech Republic does not have any unified legal Act covering all forms of youth work or youth issues, despite the fact that there have been numerous discussions and attempts during the period 1986 to 1993 (Czechoslovak state dissolved and the Czech Republic emerged) and then until 2006. For details see Chapter 1.1 and 1.10.

Legal Acts related to social inclusion of youth in specific situations

• Linked to social policy areas:

Act no. 359/1999 Coll., on Social-legal protection of children

Act no. 108/2006 Coll. on Social services

Decree of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs no. 505/2006 on the specification of the Act no. 108/2006 Coll. on Social services

• Linked to justice and criminal offends:

Act no. 218/2003 Coll. on the responsibility of Youth for criminal offences and on the judicial system in the cases of Youth (in English the terms Criminal Youth Act or on Juvenile courts are used)

Act no. 257/2000 Coll., on Probation and mediation service

• Linked to education in general and particularly regarding reintegration after criminal offences committed by youth

Act no. 109/2002 Coll. on the provision of institutional education or protective education at school facilities and on preventative educational care at school facilities and on amendments to certain acts

Act no. 561/2004 Coll., on Pre-school, Basic, Secondary, Tertiary Professional and Other Education (the Education Act)

Act no. 563/2004 Coll., on Pedagogical Staff and on the Amendment to Other Acts

Main inclusive Youth-Work programmes and target groups

As the system, terms and concepts are fragmented it is hard to identify youth-work programmes as such.

In the traditional understanding of youth work carried out by voluntary non-state youth organisations, there are no specific state programmes dedicated solely to social inclusion. However, social inclusion is reflected as a priority within general youth support programmes, particularly at the regional level, where projects targeting young people with fewer opportunities are encouraged.

In 2024, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports allocated CZK 200 million to support youth work activities, mainly year-round programmes, with part of the funding also helping reduce participation costs for young people from socially disadvantaged families.

On the side of youth organisations, there are several country-wide youth organisations which are specifically tackling social inclusion in youth work. Eleven of them cooperated on a national level within the expert working group on social inclusion for leisure-time and youth work activities by the Czech Council of Children and Youth. The group organised courses and education for youth workers, had an on-line clinic and produced 4 methodological materials for youth workers in youth organisations:

• Joint adventures on the subject of organising joint activities for groups of children and youth, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds 
• Asperger syndrome – do I know what to do with it? On the ways how to work with children and young people with Asperger syndrome in free time activities.
• ADHD – do I know what to do with it? On the subject of how to work with children and young people with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Make an advantage from disadvantage – guidance and tips for leaders of youth groups on supporting members with special needs. In the social sphere there are two kinds of social services stated and supported in the Act on social services – the Low Threshold Centres for Children and Youth (generally referred to as streetwork) and Social Activation services for families with Children. Both are described in the Chapter 4.4 and on site, they are provided by non-state actors. The Low-threshold centres could be considered as a form of youth work, concretely streetwork. The social activation of families is more related to social services than real youth work.

The streetwork and activities of the Low Threshold Centres for Children and Youth are promoted and represented by the Czech Streetwork Association (in English also Czech Association of outreach-work).

Within the institutional and education care, there are four types of facilities:

• The diagnostic institution (§ 5 of the Act) is a facility that further places children and youth into children's homes, children's homes with a school, protective education facilities following a complex assessment or directly provides preventive education care.
• Children's homes (§ 12 of the Act) hold an educational and social function and are designed for children without serious behavioural issues who have been ordered into institutional education.
• Children's homes with a protective educational facility (§ 13 of the Act) are established to provide care for children and adolescents with ordered institutional care in case of severe behavioural conditions or temporary/permanent mental disorders, as well as for children with ordered protective education and under-aged mothers who fulfil the above conditions. In general, this facility is intended for those who cannot be educated at a standard school, which is not a part of the children's home.
• Special educational institutions (§ 14 of the Act) provide care for persons older than 15 years with severe behavioural issues and ordered institutional education or protective education. In exceptional cases, a child below 15 may be placed in a special educational institution. In relation to children, it fulfils the same tasks as children's homes.