Keeping people safe & well

 

NCLB - Youth Programs Coordination Model

for South East Ottawa

 

Draft Concept paper presented to the Steering Committee on
October 31, 2006

Sources of observation:

-      Implementation of No community left Behind over the past 15 months

-      Attempts to effectively interact with youth and bring behavioural change for their future and a safe community.

-      Analysis of youth activities in Banff, Heatherington, Confederation Court and Russell Heights communities.

-      Communities’ feedback.

-      NCLB Steering Committee’s working group meeting on October 17, 2006 at Banff.

-      Meeting of the Community House directors from Banff, Confederation Court and Russell Heights on October 19, 2006 at Confederation Court Community House.

-      Meeting of the Community House directors with Executive Director of Boys and Girls Club at Banff Community House on October 24, 2006. 

Observations:

Youth engagement and mobilization is one of the core components of the No Community Left Behind initiative for crime prevention through social development. During the year 2005-2006, a few activities were planned to have interactive and informal ice-breaking and information sharing session with youth at Banff Avenue Community. 

Various pre- and post activities assessments have been carried out. Meetings with multiple stakeholders were also held. The general perception in the communities is that youth are the main source of racial tensions and gang and drug-related problems.  

The communities identified lack of activities, different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and lack of positive (educational) interaction as the root cause for the youth involvement in negative activities.  

Nevertheless, inventory of programs and resources suggest that activities are being provided by various service providers and agencies to these communities by varying degrees. To reach to the crux of the problems, a number of meetings were held by the House Directors and partner agencies in the assessment and planning phase of the No Community Left Behind. The summary of the findings is as follows: 

-      Keeping an eye on the bigger picture of how do we want to engage youth from the perspective of crime prevention through social development in these communities is of paramount importance. Keeping a broader objective of all youth related interventions is, thus, crucial.

-     In the light of a broader objective of youth development for crime prevention and community safety, youth engagement is necessary across all youth age groups and all ethnic backgrounds through various strategies.

-   Youth from all ethnic and cultural background need opportunities to positively interact. Programs for youth is isolation and without focus on awareness raising  about multi-culturalism, racism and diversity do not help.

-      There are ways to engage even the youth, which is considered beyond rehabilitation. (Example, Leslie…..)

-      Various agencies are funding youth programs in these communities with specific objectives, but these activities are taking place in isolation from each other and lack focus on the bigger picture.

-      Isolated activities with isolated segments of the youth in these communities make less of an impact. 

Conclusion/Recommendations 

Based on the above mentioned observation the community houses and partners have come to the following conclusions: 

-      There is a need to effectively coordinate youth-related activities in Banff, Heatherington, Confederation Court, Russell Heights and Blair Court communities in the light of the broader objective of addressing crime, safety and race issues to make these communities safe.

-      To make this coordination happen, a full time coordinator is required to work closely with the identified community houses and all agencies (presently investing in youth activities), and liaison closely with the No Community Left Behind coordinator.

-      The coordinator will not come with an agenda to implement, but to build on the already conducted assessments, identify gaps in services and find tune the activities in partnership with the concerned agencies to maximise the return on investment and plan for transformation and impact.

-      The coordinator will provide orientation and support to youth workers in the community houses, wherever its applicable.

-      The coordinator will mostly assist in organizing on-site activities for engaging youth with partners (resources persons) and occasionally take youth out for off-site activities at Boys and Girls Club and other facilities.

-      The coordinator will report to the NCLB Steering Community on his activity plan and progress, just as it is the practice regarding parents (adult) mobilization component. 

Expected Outcomes:

-      Youth activities in all the identified communities geared towards achieving a broader goal besides their specific objectives.

-      Duplication and isolated activities minimized to a great extent.

-      Support in outreaching and facilitating informal session help youth better interact with other partner agencies (OPS in particular) and learn valuable lessons for personal growth.

-      Community Houses have additional support for orientation of their youth workers.

-      The community houses have effective coordination and implementation of youth activities according to the specific needs and available resources in each community.

-      OPS and other partners will be able to reach a cross section of youth population for information exchange, trust building and behavioural change of local youth.

-      Successful implementation of NCLB Youth Coordination model attracts support for consistency and continuity.

-      Greater impact of the NCLB imitative.

-    Peace and harmony among youth from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. 

Actions: 

It was decided in the October 19 meeting that the House Directors in south East Ottawa will meet ED, Boys and Girls Club and request him to assign a coordinator for the above stated purpose.  

The meeting took place on October 24 in which Scott Bradford, ED, Boys and Girls Club, appreciated the proposed model and promised to share with his staff and Board for implementation. 

It was also suggested to discuss the idea in the October 31st, 2006 NCLB Steering Committee meeting for further suggestions and plan of action. 

A meeting with all agencies, contributing to youth development in South East Ottawa, is also on the cards with the objective to share the proposed model with them and ask them for maximum cooperation with the coordinator (as and when he/she is in place).

© 2005-15 South - East Ottawa Community Health Centre
Centre de Sante Communautaire du Sud Est D'Ottawa

Contact: Abid Jan Tel./ Tél: (613) 737-5115 Ext. 2403  Fax/Télé: (613) 739-8199

NCLB matters because neighbourhoods matter