In 2025, the Riga City Council Welfare Department did a Peer Learning Visit to the Département des Yvelines in France. This visit aimed to explore innovative approaches to supporting young people aged 16 and over, particularly those who are difficult to place in traditional foster families.
The programme for this Peer Learning Visit combined expert presentations, in-depth discussions and site visits. Participants were introduced to shared accommodation solutions for small groups of young people, the use of “weekend foster families,” and structured professional support mechanisms for foster families.
The visit also showcased a diversified mentoring model in which multiple mentors contribute based on their expertise, as well as culturally sensitive approaches to supporting migrant children. These are all part of Yvelines’ approach to flexible alternatives to institutional care, which enable the development of new, person-centred, community-based service models.
“ESN enables structured knowledge exchange and meaningful peer learning across European social service systems. Participation in ESN activities, such as the Peer Learning Visit, not only brings fresh ideas and new perspectives but also provides an important opportunity to validate and critically reflect on our own approaches.”
For Riga, observing these initiatives on the ground was particularly valuable. It provided first-hand insights into how another local authority designs and delivers integrated support for vulnerable young people, moving beyond theory to gain a practical understanding.
This is the goal of ESN’s Peer Learning Visits, a programme of one to three-day visits for member organisations in which the host presents good practices and the visiting member explores how it could be adapted to their own context. Visits are supported by structured planning and follow-up, including an implementation report 9 to 12 months after the exchange.
The examples from Yvelines are now informing the Municipality’s reassessment of existing services and contributing to discussions with the Ministry of Welfare on developing more targeted support frameworks. Given that national legislation currently applies a uniform approach to all children under 18, the French experience offers useful guidance for considering service adaptations and possible legislative improvements.
At the local level, the visit has already informed strategic discussions on Riga’s Out-of-Family Care System Development Plan for 2026 to 2028. The Municipality is assessing how foster families could be more integrated into the municipal support system, including access to digital tools and e-learning platforms. Riga is also exploring how to move from project-based mentoring to a permanent municipal service that matches mentors’ competencies to young people’s needs.