Community Services

Community Services is responsible for setting up and running community based training and employment programmes under its Community Training Programme and Local Training Initiative; while Community Training Workshops respond to an identifiable need within certain communities for the provision of basic training for early school leavers who have left school with low educational attainment.

Community Services is also responsible for a number of FÁS employment and development programmes including Community Employment, Job Initiative and Community Enterprise.

Index of this section:

• Community Employment
• Job Initiative
• Community Youth Training Programme
• Local Training Initiative
• Community Training Workshops
• Community Enterprise Programme
• The Worker Co-Operative Development Programme

Community Employment
Community Employment, which is the most significant labour market programme, plays a valuable role in the development of both individuals and communities. Throughout the Dublin North Region, Community Employment provides work experience and development for the long term unemployed and other disadvantaged people, on community/voluntary projects of benefit to the community.

Community Employment is a temporary employment and development programme which provides work experience to persons who are long term unemployed. A project plan is submitted to FÁS for approval which reflects the needs of the project, i.e. work to be undertaken, and the needs of the participants. Community Employment assists local community and voluntary organisations undertake work which would not otherwise be undertaken while at the same time enabling participants learn new skills and obtain valuable training and development.

The main sector of work activity for Community Employment participants relates to the provision of community amenities and services, including the provision of local childcare facilities and welfare to work information services. The second main activity area is environmental and includes urban and village renewal work, housing estate management, improvements to community facilities etc. Other notable work activity includes, improvements to community sports facilities, support of art, heritage, film and drama activities and supports within schools. There are also several projects which provide support to local social/healthcare projects.

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Job Initiative
The Job Initiative Programme provides full time employment for individuals who are over 35 years and more than five years unemployed and living in a Partnership area. Individuals will be paid a rate determined by the employer and can be offered consecutive annual contracts subject to performance. The jobs provided are within local community bodies working in the Social Economy. The Social Economy is defined as that part of the economy between the private and public sectors, which engages in economic activity in order to meet social objectives. The Social Economy is recognised as having a major potential to provide employment opportunities for unemployed persons within their locality.

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Community Youth Training Programme
Community Youth Training Programmes carried out in the recent past in Dublin North have centred on construction, renovation, restoration and decorating of buildings. These have ranged from the ambitious restoration of 17th century buildings which now serve as a theme park and industrial hamlet to the refurbishment and decoration of housing for the elderly. The Dublin North Region encompasses both rural and urban areas and a glance at projects assisted reflects FAS's response to the needs of these areas.

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Local Training Initiative
Local Training Initiatives are non-construction programmes subject to the same conditions as Community Youth Training Programmes. Local Training Initiatives include heritage based projects, which range from Library and Museum Cataloguing Projects to the publishing guides of Wildlife Habitats and Cultural Landscapes. While offering training and work experience to the participants, Local Training Initiatives also emphasise the increasing importance of leisure activities within the community. These programmes have varied from horticultural training courses to soccer skills coaching and training courses.

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Community Training Workshops
Community Training Workshops respond to an identifiable need within communities for the provision of basic training for early school leavers. These Workshops take the form of training units organised and installed in a community, by that community, with financial and technical assistance provided by FAS. Participants are paid a training allowance while availing of the development and training in the Workshop. This training may include catering, pottery, woodwork, metalwork and computer studies. Given the strong association between low literacy and numeracy levels and unemployment, specific support for overcoming these problems is also provided.

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Community Enterprise Programme
FÁS has an active role in assisting community groups and individuals who wish to become involved in the creation of economically viable jobs. The Community Enterprise Programme in the Dublin North Region develops and assists community groups to become involved in Enterprise and Job Creation. FÁS provides a series of development modules for new Enterprise Groups, advice and assistance on Project Development, grant aid for Development and Business Start-up.

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The Worker Co-operative Development Programme
To date over 100 Co-operative have received advice and assistance from FÁS in the Dublin North Region. A Worker Co-op is a business which is owned and controlled by the people who work on it. Every employee has the right to become a member and every member has one vote. Any type of business can be set up as a Worker Co-op. Membership can be as small as three or as large as 500.