Comparative Social Work Practices with Young Refugee and Asylum Seeker Families: Experiences from Finland, United Kingdom, Malta, Italy and Serbia (Esitys Nordic Social Work Conferencessa, Helsinki 21.-23.11. 2018)

Despite the increasing interest in improving the well-being of youth refugees and asylum-seekers, studies examining the links between social work practices in the recipient countries, the migration context, and the diverse needs of youth refugees, are limited. This paper builds a comparative perspective of youth social work policy, practices, and engagement related to young refugees’ psycho social support in Finland, United Kingdom, Malta, Italy, and Serbia. We solicited 48 good practices in youth social work, identified the central theme of social work practices, and linked them to each country’s migration context and social work policy. We found that the majority of youth programs were carried out by NGOs at national level, except in Finland, where support from public institutions is dominant. Social work practices in the arrival and first transit-point countries such as Malta, Italy, and Serbia, emphasize support on socioeconomic empowerment, focusing on labor market-ready skills. In the main destination countries like Finland and the UK, the artistic and social initiatives (means to cope with mental health issues) as well as person-centered support services (mentoring and advocacy) are more dominant, indicating the attempt to improve psychological and social well-being of the young refugees to resume normal life which aim for successful integration.