[Sub ID 4673] Tailored delivery and support (UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide Inc.)

Submission ID: 4673
Organisation name: UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide Inc.
Contact name: Mr Cherie Jolly
State: SA
Contact email: cjolly@ucwpa.org.au
Contact number: 0448425107

Which priority group of the Try, Test and Learn Fund does your idea support?
Young carers, Young parents, Young students at risk of long-term unemployment

What need or issue are you trying to address?
Young welfare recipients, notably members of intergenerational dependent families, can become lonely & isolate from personal & social supports that promote developing positive identity, confidence, social skills, aspiration for life /employment goals, informed decision-making.

Informational & social isolation compounded by influences of ill-informed/ negative role-modelling & social environments render young people susceptible to anxiety, depression, poverty, domestic violence, drugs/ alcohol, cultural isolation, locational disadvantage inhibiting development of employability skills & participation capacity.

Some young people holding aspiration, report difficulty accessing local relevant resources, services, personal support.

There is no contemporary digital media strategy/ platform designed to deliver ‘cut-through’ messages of motivation, positive role-modelling, information & conversation opportunities targeting this cohort of socially isolated young people. This is directly observed by:

Consortium partners’ delivery of employment services to 800+ PP recipients since July 2010 in SEIFA disadvantaged metropolitan & regional SA housing 58.3% of parenting payment recipients- DSS Data Sept 2016; Referenced/ detailed in Experiences & Aspirations of Younger Mothers,Inst of Child Protection Studies 2010; & Social Ventures Aust ‘Fundamental principles for youth employment Feb 2016′

What is your idea?
4 co-designed ‘pathways’ designed to cut through social isolation; build aspiration, resilience, social participation, and employment capacity.

1. Locally adapted engagement:
a) Cohort members recruited and trained as peer engagement agents in street-by-street’ outreach
b) Information visits & promotion to where young parents visit day-to-day, or are obligated to go
c) Utilise existing roles in young parents’ lives as project information connectors (tenancy/ cultural workers)
d) Digital media (YouTube upload/s created by/ featuring cohort members or high profile supporter(s) promoting/ role modelling aspiration, communicating information; Facebook alerts to events/ training/ employment

2. Case management based on the effective BFO model:
– ‘life-first’ approach assisting individuals and family collective
– tailored responses to identified needs/ agreed priorities
– work ‘beside, with’ people harnessing motivations in goal setting
– broker/ advocate access to education, training, employment
– direct job seeking assistance

3. Localised informal support networks:
– adapt ‘peer-to-peer’ and ‘generation-to-generation’ support models (SKIP NZ, Weavers, Family-by-Family, AUS)
– increase connection to existing supports/ establish new supports

4. Localised collaboration:
– convene stakeholders re diverse needs of young parents in all life domains
– map points where cohort members fall through the gaps
– enhance responsiveness/ relevance of local services