Lahti outreach workers build trust with teenagers at night

Outreach youth workers in Lahti meet teenagers in the places they spend time, offering support, conversation and guidance. Yle reported on service coordinator Peppi Laajoki’s work during a Friday night at the city’s harbour.

Amusement park rides lit up the harbour as music mixed with teenagers’ laughter. The Tivoli, which stayed open until midnight, drew hundreds of young people over the weekend.

Laajoki moved through the crowd carrying snacks, juice boxes and small first aid supplies. She said many teenagers need adult support, even when they cannot express it.

“I dare say that we are an important adult for many young people, someone they can talk to,” Laajoki said.

Laajoki works in the City of Lahti’s outreach youth service. She and three other employees meet teenagers in places they regularly visit. On Friday, their shift began at 6pm and continued until 2am.

“We go where the young people are,” Laajoki said.

The outreach service operates with two pairs of workers. Two instructors focus on substance use and two on gang work. Laajoki and her colleague Daniel Suopelto work on substance use issues.

Seeing positive change

Laajoki has worked in street outreach for a year and a half. In her view, the situation has become calmer.

She said there had previously been a great deal of various problems, violence and crime. Some groups have since broken up as teenagers have moved forward in their lives.

Laajoki stressed that this change cannot be credited solely to the outreach service, since many factors affect a young person’s life. Still, she said it was rewarding to see progress.

“If you meet a young person after a long time and hear that things are going well and that they have, for example, got a place at a school, you feel happy for them,” she said.

Laajoki said she often thinks about the teenagers. Sometimes a young person disappears from view, which may mean that their situation has deteriorated. Others have learned certain things and now spend time in better places.

Contact is voluntary

Laajoki and her colleagues do not make detailed plans for their shifts. They respond to situations as they arise.

Many of the teenagers on the streets at weekends are already familiar to Laajoki. She said the workers try to approach them in a relaxed and accepting way, which usually makes them receptive to contact.

Conversations cover school, friendships, family situations and substance use. Participation is voluntary. Teenagers can arrange a meeting at the office if they wish, and they may be referred to other services when necessary.

Discussions often begin with simple questions such as how things are going and what plans the teenagers have for the evening. Some speak openly, while others are more reserved.

The outreach workers are not the only people present in the field. The harbour also has a volunteer patrol, Ankkuri activities and preventive police work.

Service became permanent

Outreach work began as a fixed-term project and became a permanent part of the city’s youth services about five years ago. Gang work became a permanent part of the youth service at the start of this year.

Laajoki’s work at the Tivoli was due to continue on Saturday until 2am.

“New encounters and a new opportunity to build trust,” she said.