Candle Community Trust

Outreach Project

The Outreach Project Initiative works with young people known to the Young Person’s Probation Service across the Northside and Southside areas of Dublin.  The Project was developed from the recognition of the barriers that young people must overcome to engage with services and the difficulties experienced in engaging young people since the pandemic.  The Project engages young people (aged 14-18) whom are ‘hard to reach’, on a 1:1 or group basis, where they are at and seeks to link them with education and supports in their communities to encourage reparation and reintegration.  The Project works with Hard to Reach young people who are known to the Probation Service through court orders due to involvement in criminality.

The Outreach Project also works with young people in Oberstown Children’s Detention Centre to support young people leaving detention and returning to community.  The Project attends Oberstown once per month and works with young people offering pathways into Candle services, educational opportunities, outreach and employment support. 

COMP

The Candle Outreach Mentoring Project is a partnership between Candle Community Trust and Tusla, The Child and Family Agency. The Outreach Mentoring Programme works with young people known to Tusla who are in care or on the edge of care. The Project works in collaboration with social workers, social care workers and other key personnel to support the needs of a targeted group of young people referred by Tusla.

The Project provides individually tailored intensive support on a 1:1 basis to young people utilising Candle’s key methodologies of Trauma Informed principles, restorative practice and empowerment model.

Project workers utilise a trauma informed approach which seeks to understand and empower the young person. The Project works alongside the young person, their family and carers to support the young person to achieve their goals and meet their full potential. Young people are engaged through various methods such as recreational activities, involvement in education and community and developmental programming with a strong focus on relationship building. The Outreach Mentoring Project is committed to the promotion of trauma informed practice when working with all relevant stakeholders.