The complexity of the situations that lead a minor to be under the guardianship of protection systems is of an overwhelming magnitude. Facing emancipation from this system when turning 18 is also overwhelming. In a society where the average age for emancipation is close to 30, embarking on an independent life upon reaching adulthood and during the following years can represent a major challenge.
This is the case of Omar, who at 23 must pay for rent, food, transportation, and everything an emancipated person needs to subsist, and the case of Dylan, 18, who shares an apartment with two other former foster youths. Both are part of the group of 12 young people participating in the new program of Dual Occupational Vocational Training promoted by Ametller Origen, Eduvic, and Mercabarna to train them in the butcher's trade.
The participants are young people between 16 and 25 years old who are or have been throughout their lives under the guardianship of the Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (Dgaia) of the Generalitat. Through the program, they train for a year as butchers, with the goal that in June all of them will join Ametller Origen stores to develop their trade.
This project, which has the support of the Department of Social Rights and the Department of Business and Labor, "not only gives young people the opportunity to enter the labor market, but also companies to be able to count on talent and dignify trades such as that of a butcher," defended the CEO and founder of Ametller Origen, Josep Ametller. Thus, the program also seeks to respond to the needs of companies like his: "There are trades that are disappearing, and we do not find these profiles," highlighted the Head of People and Culture at Ametller Origen, Isaac Martín, who encouraged the participants to become references in butchery.
"It is very difficult to find trained and suitable profiles for some sectors," agreed the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent. He linked this reality to the fact that for years university studies have been prioritized over vocational training, something he assures is being reversed. Torrent framed it in a context of transformation of the productive model that encompasses all sectors, including butchery.
"It may seem very traditional, but it has developed with technical evolutions; there is no sector that escapes this transformation," Torrent added, conversing with the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, and the Director of European Financing, Public Affairs, Sustainability and CSR of Ametller Origen, Marta Angerri. Campuzano has estimated the number of minors under the guardianship of the Dgaia at close to 8,000, and has highlighted that the Generalitat has promoted accompaniment programs beyond the age of 18, in which they are working with some 4,000 young people.
The initiative, which has received 279,000 euros in funding from the Next Generation, provides a salary to young participants during the program.In this context, the three entities, with very different basic objectives, they decided to bring their paths together to promote this common project, as Marta Montoya from Eduvic has highlighted. "When the initiative was proposed, we saw the opportunity to put our facilities and our 30 years of experience in trade training at their disposal," added Marta Rodríguez, Mercabarna's Director of People and Culture.
The initiative, which has received 279,000 euros in funding from the Next Generation funds, provides a salary to young participants during the program. Among them is also Angelita, 25 years old, who has been "accompanied by the Dgaia her whole life." In the framework of Women's Day, but with a claim valid any other day, she has put on the table "the inequalities women face to access the labor market." These are inequalities that Angelita maintains have no place in this program, which she assures has given her opportunities not only in the workplace: "It has given me the opportunity to prove to myself that with support I can do everything I set my mind to."