At StreetWork, our Youth Case Workers take on the role of the community connector in order to build the support of specialised youth services around an at-risk young person (YP). Young people (and children) experience and observe a ‘hub’ of relationships in a their own setting. Each relationship contributes to creating a sense of community because each facilitates feelings of belonging, connectedness and inclusion. (KidsMatter, 2012, p.11).
At StreetWork we offer at-risk young people an opportunity to participate in our KickStart Mentoring Program which is a model of in-community (commonly referred to as outreach) support for vulnerable young people to reduce the risk factors impacting their lives.
For example, if the young people identifies a goal that they want to re-engage with education or school, together with their youth case worker, they develop a plan that helps them achieve this outcome. They meet as often as is needed to develop the patterns of behaviour required which may include having breakfast together, transport to school, support from a specialist service to develop good sleep hygiene & creating a morning routine … all of these contribute to succeed and the achievement of this goal.
Local community support is the key to success …. ‘It (does) takes a village to raise a child’.