Over $400,000 to Expand Youth Supports and Services Province-wide

Young people who are youth services clients under the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, will have the opportunity to get additional help in preparing for adulthood with an investment of $401,600 from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to expand the Supporting Youth with Transitions pilot program.

“Our government is investing $401,600 for the Supporting Youth with Transitions pilot program in order to ensure youth are provided with enhanced supports and services needed to successfully make this transition to early adulthood,” said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services. “By expanding this program, we will be able to provide more youth with hands-on interventions and supports to build necessary life skills that will empower them to live independently as adults.”

As announced in Budget 2013: A Sound Plan, A Secure Future, the Supporting Youth with Transitions pilot program will expand province-wide with funding to hire life skills coordinators in the central, western and Labrador regions. These new life skills coordinators will work directly with youth in their communities to identify and address the life skills needs of the youth, in a variety of areas such as daily living and self-care, relationships and communication, housing and financial management, and career and education planning.

Furthermore, the program will be offered in the Metro Region by Choices for Youth, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides a wide range of services including housing, employment and educational opportunities for youth.

“Choices for Youth is very happy to partner with the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services in responding to the needs of vulnerable youth in our community,” said Sheldon Pollett, Executive Director, Choices for Youth. “Providing intensive supports to youth as they develop skills is absolutely critical in assisting youth in working through the barriers in their lives.”

The pilot program will provide youth receiving residential services under the department’s voluntary Youth Services Program with active and ongoing support from both their social worker and new life skills coordinator. Further details regarding the Youth Services Program are included in the backgrounder below.

Through Budget 2013, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador remains committed to enhancing program and service delivery to children and youth with focused investments totalling $185.3 million for the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services.

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Backgrounder
Overview of Youth Services Program

The Youth Services Program assists at risk youth, age 16 and 17, to make a successful transition to early adulthood. This program provides social work intervention and services on a voluntary basis to youth and their families through the following:

Supportive Services
Supportive services include social work support, such as facilitating referrals to community agencies, crisis intervention and case management services, for youth who are residing at home. These services are provided in an effort to keep the family together and avoid a need for the youth to leave the family home.

Residential Services
Residential services include monthly financial and supportive services for youth no longer living at home with their parents.

Once a youth has been approved under the Youth Services Program, they can enter into a voluntary Youth Services Agreement with the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. The program aims to help youth meet basic needs, such as financial support, housing stability, relationship building, life skills, and education, and to improve quality of life while maximizing the youth’s participation in the program.

2013 06 20             2:50 p.m.