A guide based on the real-life experiences of youth workers in Germany and the Netherlands
Best Practices for Supporting Marginalized Youth
This guide is based on the results of interviews conducted in Germany and the Netherlands with experienced youth workers. Through the interviews, they offered real-life insights and best practices in supporting marginalized youth drawn from their firsthand experiences.
“And you must never make promises you can’t keep. That’s something you’ll struggle with for literal years. ‘So-and-so made me that promise’ – they remember that intensely.”
“Keep being yourself. […] They can very quickly sense when someone is not sincere.”
“We really try to have a lot of young people think along in the activity and take in leadership.”
🏠 Safe and Accessible Space
Create an accessible, safe space: “That you can just walk in. That it’s accessible to everyone. Doesn’t matter who.”
“Here, they can simply walk in through low-threshold access… Walk in and then they can really ask all kinds of questions and have conversations about anything. If we don’t know the answer to something, we always have another colleague who does know the answer. That’s how we strengthen each other as teams.”
⚖️ Corrective Support and Youth Involvement
“We always focus heavily on correcting behavior.”
“Have them think of their own rules to follow.” (37:02)
“And if they still don’t behave themselves or you have to correct them – then you just point them to the rules they made themselves.”
“Start as early as possible with the young people. The earlier you’re there – colleagues always say that. You have to seek each other out in times of peace, so that you can find each other again in times of war.”
🌀 Youth-Centered Methodology
“Just the whole teenager process. Holding their hand. Like, ‘Hey, we’re here if you need us.’”
“The first step then, is making contact. Those 5 pillars you have then. It resembles the methodic cycle. So then you establish contact and I think – you’ll gather questions. And then you have the execution. Then you have evaluation and like that, the circle’s round every time. We work with that method. That’s really all about asking, ‘What do the young people themselves want?’”
🧭 Safety Through Structure and Connection
“Safety lies precisely in providing structure and clear boundaries, and then also in building that connection and showing your softer side.”
🌱 Authenticity Matters
“Because teenagers are so busy shaping their identity, they are also very focused on the identity of their mentors. So, if you as a mentor are very authentic—who you are and what your norms and values are—that works very well for teenagers.”
💡 Positive Alternatives
“I could have a very negative conversation now, but I could also just ask that boy, ‘Let’s make something nice for that girl together, let’s put her in the spotlight. Do you even know what she likes? Shall we go and ask her?’”
👨👩👧👦 Collaborating with Parents
“I really try to show the parents that we’re looking for a solution together”
🌍 Cultural Understanding
“The understanding of the same culture can help a lot to learn to understand the youngsters and make them feel at home”
💬 Bond First, Learn Better
“The longer you focus on building a bond with the children, the easier it becomes to learn for them”
🤝 Safety in the Group, Built from Individual Attention
“I also notice that safety within a group is very important, and that it is also very important for children to learn from each other and to be able to work together. That is also something important for later in life. But I do think that if you have given a child individual attention, sometimes it can be easier for that child to keep up with the group.”
🌟 The Power of Positivity
“I also really believe in a positive approach, so really focusing on what’s going well, really giving compliments, that is something they get too little in a group (setting)”
“Then you can really see that a child can flourish with lots of compliments and positivity.”
🎉 Celebrate the Small Steps
“Something very small can already be a great help, small steps can be very positive, celebrating (things) is also very important”
🎮 Making the Invisible Youth Visible
“What I always say is: We try to make the invisible youth visible, by using gaming as a means, and livestreaming to make us presentable.”
🛡️ Creating Safe Online Spaces
“Use online resources to create safe spaces for youth in order to guide them or simply engage their mutual interests. The communication does not require much effort and that makes it very valuable. Additionally, it holds a signaling function.”
🤝 The First Step: Extend the Invitation
“The first thing you have to do is this: ‘Are you coming along?’”
🌐 Include the Online World
Include the online world when speaking of the environments of young people besides the free time, school and family workfields.
🗣️ Meaningful Conversations in Small Groups
Have interactions in smaller groups, in order to have meaningful conversations as opposed to less profound conversations with a bigger group.
🚨 Take Online Signals Seriously
🌍 Bridging Online and Offline: Community Days
Organise community days in order to connect the online and offline containing all sorts of activities. They are initially able to connect online and then meet in real life.
👪 The I, the C, and the B
“Show Interest in what your child does Communicate from a positive perspective But maintain Balance together”
📚 Support Through Resources
Share books and tips that help parents in understanding what to do in certain situations involving gaming.
💬 Be Sincere
“Be sincere in your interactions, as insincerity is picked up very easily and is not conducive to meaningful interactions.”
🌍 Embracing Cultural Differences
“Always, there is differences, but this kind of differences are the gap between cultures.”
🌱 Identity as an Evolving Process
“Creating new friends, a new people, a new community, a new life, a new identity, because I believe that each one of us can everyday create a new identity and be themselves.”
📢 Spread awareness by sharing and listening to stories
📚 Educate to Understand Others
Encourage youth to educate themselves in order to better understand people, including their peers, from different backgrounds and/or practising different lifestyles.
🗣️ Activism as a Dialogue Space
“Activism, it’s a space where people can connect, create a dialogue, debate, in a respectful way where we can exchange the knowledge and based of the rules of dialogue and debate of just listening to each other, we learn a lot of skills.”
✈️ Step Out of the Comfort Zone
Encourage youths to go out and travel in order to break out of their comfort zone, as they have a high ability to do so.
🧠 Collective Language and Safe Spaces
“You need a safe space to create, collectively, language. I mean, it’s a group language.”
“Creating languages, it’s meant to focus more on the respect values or the important goal than just focusing on designing language based on the group backgrounds.”
🫂 You Are Allowed to Exist
“It’s allowed for you to exist here without dealing with ‘you, what is your background?’”
💞 Solidarity and Shared Humanity
“When I look at your problem, bigger than my problem, I feel in solidarity, but also I feel myself a bit relieved that I’m not alone, you know?”
“By exposing ourselves to others, but in a positive way, not a negative way, that we are also suffering.”
👂 Just Listen
“Also let people sometimes talk to someone who (is) just listening more than judging them and giving them a solution, just listening to them. This is very important. Just listening.”
🔄 Empathy Over Stereotypes
“We need to put ourselves always in (the) shoes of others before we are judging them or just talking about them or listening, or just talking (about) things or creating stereotypes about them in (the) media or in politics or behind the doors. Just try to switch over the image and put ourselves in their shoes. I think how somebody can (really) will talk about us and how it (is) and the same way, how we talk about them.”
🔍 Use Experience as Knowledge
“So they need to get the courage and (take) the step and (to) meet this experience and to know about this experience, and to use it as (a) knowledge or as (a) resources for a better future, because this is how we work as a community, we’re learning from each other.”
🫱🏽🫲🏾 Empower Through Empathy and Participation
“To begin with, I consider dealing with these challenges often depends on empathy, collaboration, cultural competency, and a deep commitment to their empowerment. Basically develop genuine, authentic relationships based on mutual respect and understanding. Then focus on the youth’s strengths, skills, and potential rather than their challenges. One of the methods I work with, in trying to empower them and giving a voice is participatory method. So far it helped me better to understand their needs and co-work with them on creating opportunities which we together decide.”
🤝 Building Trust Through Inclusive, Tailored Engagement
Building Trust and Relationships: Establishing a safe, nonjudgmental environment and taking the time to listen and understand their stories helps build rapport and trust.
Tailored Approaches: Customizing workshop activities to align with their unique needs, abilities, and cultural backgrounds ensures relevance and inclusivity.
Interactive Techniques: Using participatory methods like role-playing, storytelling, and group discussions keeps them engaged and encourages active participation.
Mentorship and Peer Support: Connecting youth with mentors or fostering peer networks builds community and mutual encouragement.
Flexible Scheduling: Offering workshops at times that accommodate their responsibilities increases attendance and participation.
Incorporating Technology: Utilizing mobile apps, videos, and online tools makes learning more accessible and engaging.
🧠 Mental Health and Safe Conversation
“We also have the boost groups now for young people with a low self-image or going towards suicidal thoughts. So that’s also really great. So it’s really just from playing a game together or doing sports together to really have conversations in groups, like ‘Hey how are you?’”
🌍 Language, Effort, and Inclusion
Show some effort by trying to learn a few words of the language they are familiar with, as it goes a long way:
“Back then, I was chatting in Syrian Arabic with someone. ‘See, you can already do that too.’ Now, I get that it’s just a few words, but those few words give you an entrance with everyone. Boom, right? So by showing those different languages, it also signals to others, ‘You’re really making an effort for everyone.’ That’s what I think makes it beautiful.”
👀 Observation and Cultural Representation
“Just observe and signal and from there, then proceed.”
“By having such a broad team with all sorts of different cultures, with all sorts of different interests, with all sorts of different things that that person is capable of, you are able to reach other sorts of young people every time. And maybe there is a young person who thinks, ‘These 5 are fun, but fine.’ But maybe there might be one in between who thinks like, ‘Well, we want nothing to do with all of you, but I can talk to him.’”
🏫 Casual Check-ins and Understanding Behavior
“Then we just walk around the school. There are always people with a free period, or someone who’s been sent out of class, or whatever – and you just start a conversation with them, like, ‘Hey, why’d you get sent out again?’ or ‘Why are you late to school again?’
And then it’s not about the hierarchy of ‘You’re late, you have to stay after class.’ Instead, it’s more like, ‘Hey, what’s actually going on with you? Come sit down — this isn’t okay. Grab your note, and then we’ll play a little game together and figure out, ‘Hey, where’s this coming from, and how can we maybe solve it so it doesn’t happen again?’”
🧡 Respect, Empathy, and Equal Treatment
“To show them sympathy with their country or ethnic group. But no positive discrimination, no special advantages because it can worsen their position in the collectives. Show them respect for their culture, mentality ….”
“I just show my respect, make jokes etc…..”
“We treat them equally like others. We try to understand their stories, family background etc. So they get special care.”
“I treat them equally like others but with higher tolerance and empathy. They simply feel it.”
🧩 Building Trust Through Patience and Partnership
“Yes, there are some effective strategies to address these challenges. Building long-term partnerships with organisations already working with the target groups, such as youth welfare services and on-site social workers, has been beneficial. These established connections help create trust and improve accessibility. Practicing patience with the target group is essential, as building rapport and achieving positive outcomes often takes time. Keeping the topics and activities low-threshold—meaning accessible and relatable to the youths’ experiences—also improves engagement. Additionally, remaining open to different outcomes of activities allows flexibility, ensuring that the program adapts to the youths’ needs rather than imposing rigid expectations.”
🤗 Partnership, Safety, and Standing by Young People
“The only method that has ever worked for me is a partnership approach, building trust, creating a safe environment, being open, showing interest, sometimes humour.
And in tense situations, standing up for children / young people and defending them.
In words: I’m on your side. We’re a team. We belong together. We work together. I need you. I like you.”
🧭 Guidance and Autonomy
“Use Refugeehelp, a website containing information in various languages regarding all sorts of relevant information.”
Guide (marginalized) people concretely, following themes and taking initiative in helping them.
“You must ensure that control always remains with the people themselves and that we don’t start taking things out of their hands just to arrange it well without involving them.”
Give them anchors via initiatives: a budget to work out, for example. Ask them what they like to do and apply them to programs.
🗣️ Listening, Speaking, and Settling In
Look into people showing disinterest, ask them how they are and really have a conversation with them. Give them the possibility to speak.
Give them time, the chance to settle in.
Take different age groups into account in light of the need to interact with a person’s own age group, especially in the younger age groups.
🤝 Connection and Collaboration
Encourage young people to make connections by asking for directions on the street and make new connections, i.e. by pairing them up with someone else (a volunteer or a fellow status holder) so that they can teach each other what they know about the surroundings (for example).
Promote communication between different organisations to ensure that the person is being helped adequately.
“Let’s work together, instead of past each other.”
🧠 Open Minds, Open Doors
“Listening to their needs and trying to understand them.
“I always try to be reliable and reachable and have an open door for our students. It lies in them when, by what time, they want to accept help, nobody is forcing them.”
“Listen to the wishes of students and if they don’t have wishes for their future, try to build their future with them.”
“Let’s remove the barriers in our minds.”
❤️ Work With Your Heart
“We don’t do it alone. You can’t do anything by yourself in life. You need each other. You need organisations.”
“Providing knowledge. Supplying information. That is the intent, and the fact that people can move forward with their lives — that is simply very important.”
“What I ultimately want to say is: be genuine, be sincere, be heartfelt. Don’t just see it as a task — work with your heart. Because the heart speaks to the heart.”
