Our approach

Streetwork aims to help vulnerable young people affected by destructive influences and behaviour to turn their lives around through Kickstart Mentoring Program (one-on-one mentoring).

We firmly believe in early intervention as the best form of prevention. It can help avoid a downward spiral into crime, disengagement from education and mental health issues.

Our approach puts the young person in charge, as they are the only ones who can make the change.

To break the cycle of these destructive behaviours we match our young people with their own trained and experienced youth case worker, who supports them to:

1. set goals to address the behaviours that place them at risk
2. connect with the community services that can help them achieve those goals

We've learned that only qualified and experienced youth caseworkers have the skills to guide troubled teens through this process; to see the risks and manage them through their crisis.

Our mentoring model combines case management with a youth work approach. At the heart of every interaction and engagement opportunity with a vulnerable young person, our youth caseworkers aim to:

1. build trusting relationships - this is key to engaging young people and creating interest
2. empowering young people - this is a partnership between the young person and their youth caseworker 3. using evidence-based strategies - our theory of change ensures we work collaboratively with young people and partners to achieve the best outcomes possible for every individual 4. leveraging powerful tools - we engage with Huber Social to evaluate our program to ensure we are using data to improve our program and services

Streetwork Services

Vulnerable young people rarely ask for help, so we've developed outreach programs to help us to connect before a crisis occurs.

Should the teen become engaged with the Police or the juvenile justice system, our volunteers reach out to support them through our 24/7 advocacy service.

Others come to us through referrals from our youth service partners and government agencies, including schools, health, community services, police, and juvenile justice.

We address any immediate issues through crisis management and then help vulnerable young people get their lives back on track through our Kickstart Mentoring Program.

Our mentoring is supported by skill building to develop abilities, confidence and relationships.

Aftercare helps teens ease back into their new life after they have graduated from our mentoring program.

Mental health services for Young People

Click here to download a list of mental health services that young people can access.