2005 National Host Conference
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[ Section 3 ] Conference Workshops
Session 1
Workshop 1B - The Special Needs of Youth: A Working Model
Presenter:
Sally Spencer, Youth Assisting Youth, Ontario
Workshop Summary:
The workshop identified:
- The challenges of introducing youth mentoring to a parent in the early stages of their arrival.
- Thinking outside the box in service delivery models because there is no one service that can serve all newcomer children.
- Whether newcomer children require a longer period of support from a Host volunteer than their parents.
- What young people really want to learn from being part of the Host Program.
- The art of recruitment, screening and retention of youth volunteers.
- The secrets of working effectively with Youth Volunteers.
Background:
The Youth Assisting Youth program began in 1976 in Scarborough. The objective is to keep children in school and out of the criminal justice system, and is aimed at youth who have recently arrived.
Discussion:
- Matching occurs between youths from different cultures, and same gender.
- Issues include youth who want to belong, feel safe, learn at their own pace and be accepted for who they are. The idea is to have fun, and to make youth feel responsible for another youth.
- Volunteer Orientation includes a home assessment, two written references with verbal verification, and police checks.
- Mandatory workshops include cross cultural/diversity, child management, child abuse awareness.
- Challenges include advocating to have newcomer youth participation early in the program, gaining trust of parents, promoting social skills development; recruiting male volunteers, marketing the program; retaining volunteers; determining motivation factors for volunteering
- Goal-setting and the provision of support/guidance is required for the youths.
- Working effectively with youth volunteers includes being respectful, recognizing that learning occurs at different paces.
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