The Experiences and Perspectives of African-Australian Community Service Providers Who Work with At-Risk and Justice-Involved Youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2110226
Author(s):  
Stephane Shepherd ◽  
Aisling Bailey ◽  
Godwin Masuka
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Australian Community

African-Australian young people are over-represented in custody in the state of Victoria. It has been recognized in recent government and stakeholder strategic plans that African-Australian community service providers are well placed to help address the increasing complex needs of at-risk African-Australian youth. However little is known about the capacities of such providers to effectively contend with this growing social concern. In response, this study aimed to explore the perspectives and operational (service delivery and governance) experiences of African-Australian community organizations which provide services to at-risk young people in Victoria. Through a series of in-depth interviews with the leadership of eight key African-Australian service providers, we aimed to identify their perceived strengths, obstacles faced and proposed strategies to realize key objectives. Perspectives on key risk factors for young African-Australian justice system contact were also gathered. Several themes were extracted from the interviews, specifically (i) Risk factors for African-Australian youth justice-involvement (school disengagement, peer delinquency, family breakdown, intergenerational discord, perceived social rejection), (ii) The limitations of mainstream institutions to reduce African-Australian youth justice-involvement (too compliance focused, inflexible, business rather than human-centered, disconnected from communities and families), (iii) The advantages of African-Australian community service providers when working with African-Australian youth (community credibility, client trust, flexibility, culturally responsive), (iv) The challenges faced by African-Australian service providers (lack of funding/resources, professional staff shortages, infrastructural/governance limitations), and (v) “What works” in service provision for at-risk African-Australians (client involvement in program design, African staff representation, extensive structured programming matched with client aspirations, prioritizing relationship building, persistent outreach, mental health and legal literacy for clients and families). Implications for service delivery and social policy are discussed within.

scholarly journals Making a claim for services: Supporting young people’s engagement with services

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley Dewhurst ◽  
Robyn Munford ◽  
Jackie Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Service Engagement ◽  
Multiple Services ◽  
Education Support ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Engagement With Services

INTRODUCTION: Young people who experience significant adversity use multiple services (child welfare, youth justice, mental health, and education support services). Engagement with services can facilitate access to support and resources to mitigate the risks these young people face in their every-day lives. This article draws on the findings from a qualitative study which sought to examine the factors that either facilitated or inhibited young people’s engagement with services. The young people had complex needs and had used multiple services from an early age.METHODS: The study used in-depth interviews to explore young people’s service experiences. A thematic inductive analysis identified key themes. The concept of making a claim for services emerged as an explanatory device to understand the processes of service engagement.  FINDINGS: Making a claim for services was a critical first step in young people’s engagement with services, representing an ongoing interactive process between young people and service providers. Three key elements comprised a successful claim for services: young people’s needs meeting service entry criteria; personal agency; and, relevant and meaningful service responses.CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that making a claim for services is a dynamic process and that a cornerstone of effective practice with vulnerable youth involves social workers establishing meaningful relationships with young people. Social workers who make a positive difference in young people’s lives are open to the different ways in which young people express their needs and support them to participate as active partners in interventions.  

scholarly journals Rethinking Youth Justice Journeys: Complex Needs, Impeded Capabilities and Criminalisation

Youth Justice ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-327
Author(s):  
Sarah Brooks-Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Policy Innovation ◽  
Effective Practice ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Travel Burden

This article rethinks youth justice policy and practice in terms of movement, challenging its dominant, static framing. Holistic services have a high travel burden, with absence extremely problematic for effective practice. Yet children’s youth justice journeys and their effects currently remain invisible. Evidence from 28 young people and 33 practitioners will demonstrate the urgent need to develop policies that do not punish children who are poorly placed to travel. The compulsory catapulting of ‘kinetic underclass’ members around locality settings suggests the need for policy innovation, with new ‘minimum standards’ providing effective, child-centred opportunities through comprehensive yet malleable minimum entitlements.

Caregivers, Young People with Complex Needs, and Multiple Service Providers: A Study of Triangulated Relationships

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ungar ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Nicole Landry ◽  
Janice Ikeda
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Complex Needs

scholarly journals Support in the education of families at risk within the organization of civil society: The experience of users of the association MoSt

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Toni Maglica ◽  
Maja Ljubetić ◽  
Ante Grčić
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Family

Introduction. Some families need additional support in performing a demanding parenting role, especially families at risk who do not have suffcient capacity to adequately respond to the child's needs. The functioning of such families is infuenced by risk factors arising from the family, but also from the wider social environment. Sometimes, the support and the role of a protective factor are taken over by civil society organizations that base their interventions mainly on quality interpersonal relationships and fully and timely meet the needs of children and families at risk. Objective. This research aimed to identify and understand the factors that families at risk perceive as support and assistance. Methods. The theoretical framework of the research is Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development. The interview method was used to collect data from 14 participants (mothers, fathers and children), users of the MoSt association from Split. Results. The results obtained by thematic analysis provide insight into: manifest forms of behavioral problems in children in the sample, service providers to families at risk, risk factors leading to the problem, assessment of support by civil society organizations and outcomes of the intervention. Research participants particularly emphasize the feeling of support that arises from the experienced, perceived feeling of comfort, security, friendliness, recognition and acceptance, and even the feeling of "as if you are in a family." Both children and parents value the values behind support, which are respect, friendship, acceptance, and polite, decent communication. Conclusion. It has been shown that the organization of civil society is a kind of "bridge", i.e. that it moderates and facilitates between the family and state institutions. What is visible in the testimony of the participants is the perceived availability of the organization itself, its resources, services and people, as well as the specifcity of the services provided to the family.

scholarly journals A framework for young people with neurodisability who engage in antisocial behaviour: Introducing the PAM-NEXT

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sebastian Collin-Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Young People ◽  
Antisocial Behaviour ◽  
Developmental History ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Agency Model ◽  
Dynamic Risk Factors ◽  
Dynamic Risk ◽  
Target Treatment

<p>In recent times there has been greater recognition of the over representation of young people with neurodisability within youth justice systems worldwide. This poses a problem for practitioners and suggests that current treatments based on addressing dynamic risk factors may be inadequate for addressing the needs of this group. This thesis elucidates these challenges and extends the Predictive Agency Model (PAM; Heffernan & Ward, 2017) into the Predictive Agency Model-Neurodisability Extension (PAM-NEXT). This extension considers how neurodisability can contribute to a maladaptive developmental history for young people which, in some cases, can lead to exposure to dynamic risk factors. The PAM-NEXT provides a framework to consider how these factors can be operationalised within the process of antisocial behaviour for young people with neurodisabilities. The PAM-NEXT is then applied to composite cases of young people who have engaged in antisocial behaviour to demonstrate its utility. Lastly the PAM-NEXT is evaluated and future directions discussed. The PAM-NEXT can provide practitioners options to adequately target treatment for young people with neurodisability who engage in antisocial behaviour.</p>

What Genetic Advances Might Mean for the Consumer in Mental Illness

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. A198-A200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Young People ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Psychotic Illness ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Screening Procedures

Objective Increased research efforts into screening young people at risk of schizophrenia is anticipated. The aim of the present paper is to consider the ethical concerns raised by this research from a consumer's perspective. Method Insights into relevant ethical concerns obtained from personal experiences of psychotic illness are described. Results A range of salient ethical issues were identified that need to be addressed in research proposals regarding the screening of people for schizophrenia risk factors. Conclusions The importance of research into the development of screening procedures for schizophrenia risk factors suggests that the ethical issues identified need urgent attention. Consumer input is essential in this endeavour.

scholarly journals Practice Notes: Understanding the purpose of youth justice in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Doolan
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
The Law ◽  
Almost All

The administration of justice can become an arid procedural concern when practitioners lose sight of purpose. This article focuses on the purposes of the youth justice provisions of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. After traversing New Zealand’s historical responses to children who offend and contrasting the conceptual underpinnings of those approaches with current legislation, the article identifies the three key aims of youth justice reform which took place during the late 1980s – providing due process guarantees; finding alternatives to enmeshing young people and their families in the formal criminal justice system; and promoting culturally respectful processes. The author argues that almost all of the procedures of the legislation link to one or other of these aims and by understanding these linkages, all youth justice practitioners – judges, legal advocates, coordinators, social workers, police and community service providers – can ensure the intentions of the law are not lost in the exigencies of the day-to-day activity. The article concludes by proposing that all youth justice practitioners, in addition to their role-specific functions, have a collective responsibility to ensure the mandate of the law is given effect.

scholarly journals Young People Under Youth Justice Supervision With Varying Child Protection Histories: An Analysis of Group Differences

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catia G. Malvaso ◽  
Paul H. Delfabbro ◽  
Andrew Day ◽  
Gavin Nobes
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
History Of

There is now convincing evidence that childhood maltreatment is associated with youth offending; however, relatively little is known about the characteristics and needs of those who are involved in both the child protection and youth justice systems, and the extent to which these might differ according to level of child protection involvement. This study reports the characteristics and needs of 2,045 young people who were under supervision in secure custody or detention in South Australia between 1995 and 2012 according to the level of exposure to the child protection system in an Australian jurisdiction. Five groups of young offenders were compared: (a) no known child protection notifications or substantiated experience of abuse and/or neglect, (b) notifications only, (c) substantiated notifications, (d) notifications or substantiations and subsequent placement in out-of-home care (OHC), and (e) placement in OHC only. The results indicate that young people who have a history of child protection system involvement have significantly greater and more complex needs than those who have no child protection experience. It is concluded that different service responses may be required to meet the diverse needs of these groups of young people under youth justice supervision.

scholarly journals An Integrative Systems Approach to Enhancing Service Delivery for Individuals with Complex Needs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Pei ◽  
Cheryl Poth ◽  
Melissa Tremblay ◽  
Meghan Walker
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Community Settings ◽  
Fetal Alcohol ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum

Abstract Purpose of Review There are a lack of system-wide integrative services for individuals with complex needs and a corresponding demand for advancing cross-disciplinary practices in community settings. This demand is especially acute for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and a gap we have sought to address. Recent Findings We present findings from a literature scan to guide service delivery for individuals and families affected by FASD and other complex needs: four overarching guiding principles for policy decision-makers, seven guiding practices for organizations, and 23 guiding practices for service providers. Summary These identified principles and practices bridge diverse perspectives, with potential for their implementation to provide consistent, evidence-based services to underserved populations with complex needs.

scholarly journals Deaths in young people after contact with the youth justice system: a retrospective data linkage study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Kinner ◽  
Holly Tibble ◽  
Katie Hail-Jares ◽  
Rohan Borschmann ◽  
Matthew Spittal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
External Causes ◽  
Causes And Risk Factors

IntroductionYoung people who have contact with the youth justice system are distinguished by a high prevalence of complex, co-occurring health problems, including known risk factors for preventable mortality. However, almost nothing is known about health outcomes for these young people after separation from the youth justice system. Objectives and ApproachWe aimed to examine the incidence, timing, causes and risk factors for death in justice-involved young people. We linked youth justice records in Queensland, Australia 1993-2016 (N=48,963) with adult correctional records and the National Death Index. We split the cohort into three subgroups: those who had ever been in detention (n=7,643), those supervised in the community but never detained (n=12,953), and those charged with an offence but never convicted (n=28,367). We calculated all-cause and cause-specific crude mortality rates (CMRs), and indirectly standardised mortality ratios (SMRs). We used Cox regression to identify static and time-varying risk factors for death. ResultsDuring a median of 13.6 years of follow-up there were 1,452 deaths (3.0%). The all-cause CMR was 2.2 (95%CI 2.1-2.3) per 1000 person-years, and the all-cause SMR was 3.1 (95%CI 3.0-3.3). The leading external causes of death were suicide (32% of all deaths), transport accidents (16%), accidental drug-related causes (13%), and violence (3%). In adjusted analyses, independent risk factors for all-cause mortality included being male (HR=1.4, 95%CI 1.2-1.6) and older (>=15 vs. vs. charge only; HR=1.6, 95%CI 1.2-2.0) and subsequent incarceration as an adult (HR=1.8, 95%CI 1.4-2.4). Conclusion/ImplicationsYoung people who have contact with the youth justice system are at markedly increased risk of preventable death, after separation from that system. Efforts to improve long-term health outcomes for justice-involved youth have the potential to reduce preventable deaths in these highly vulnerable young people.

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