An Enduring Presence? Moving beyond single interventions with vulnerable youth

With grateful thanks to:

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment who have funded the research and to Linda Liebenberg and Mike Ungar in Canada who conceptualised the original Pathways study and have supported the development of the research.

The Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions Studies

Robyn MunfordJackie Sanders

www.youthsay.co.nz

© RRC

Leve

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Time

Expected/Actual

Patterns of positive development

© RRC

Leve

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Chronic Stressors

Expected

Acute Stressor/trauma

Actual“Hidden Resilience”

Patterns of Positive DevelopmentUnder Adversity

© RRC

© RRC

WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

In the presence of significant adversity

resilience is the capacity of

individuals to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural and physical

resources that sustain their well-being and their capacity to individually and collectively

negotiate for these resources to be provided

in culturally meaningful ways © RRC

2537

1350

1057

1200 1477

Two Studies

National samplesMixed methodsMulti stage

Pathways to Resilience.The role of services and resilience in outcomes for youth at high risk.Two groups – service using and comparison

Youth Transitions.Factors associated with positive transitions to young adulthood for high risk youth. Tracking development for service using youth

20082014

Who are the young people?

1477 young peopleRange : 12-17 yearsMean age 15.7 years

Male Female0

200400600800

1000

Gender (n= 1477)

child welfare youth justice additional education mental health0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Chart Title

Maori

Pakeha

Pacific Is-land

Other eth-nicity

Comparing Risk and Resilience

vulnerable groupcomparison group

RESILIENCEt(1193.81)= -8.09, p< .001

RISKt(1123.6) =26.31, p<.001)

HIGH

LOW

Compressed childhoods:• Frequent moves• Social & emotional disruption• Unpredictable or little effective family support• Abuse & neglect

Accelerated autonomy: • Adult decisions• Financial responsibility • Caring for others early

Accelerated and Compressed Development

The Role of Services in Moderating Risk, Building Resilience and Enhancing Outcomes

Contextual Risk Individual Risk Service Quality Service volume

Outcomes

Resilience

Positive effect

Negative effect

The Role of Consistent Service Quality

Positive parent relationship

Positive school relationships

Community risks Individual risks

Two positive service experiences

Resilience

Outcomes

Positive effect

Negative effect

Positive peers

4 Key Messages

• Relationships• Persistence• Time• Adaptable/agile responses

An Enduring Presence

We’re just the lost generation that had shit parents, and are angry at everybody in the world.

You just have to be there for the person. Like the extra mile, like how [my social worker] said: ‘if you don’t txt me, I’ll find you’. And she did find me. Took me to [a café]… And she just talked to me and said: ‘It’s got to stop’ [drug use]. But she talked to me on my level when she was talking to me. She wasn’t talking to me as this person that had to do their job. I was real to her, it helped.

Observed Neglect

It’s pretty much a waste of time for me doing that [telling people what is going on] coz when it comes to services and that, they dont want to know your back life, they just wanna know a little bit then they take you away put you away and then that’s it. File closed. Or we’ll send you back to your family, send you back to drugs and drunks. And then close the file that’s it.

What could we do differently?

She never judged me. I was scared. I didn’t know why I got angry. She just kept seeing me and talking to me about it and I got to understand what was going on. She talked to me heaps, she listened to me heaps, [we worked out ]what I could do, like remove myself from situations, stuff like that.

The Enduring Presence

First I went to the GP, and then to CAFS. Then the social worker got me to go to counselling. And she took me there. I wouldn’t have gone otherwise. She was always there when I needed someone to talk to, and she helped me understand what was going on for me.

I saw them every week and they sometimes would come to my meetings with me (with other workers). They would stand up for me, and have a talk, and yeah that helped me.

1. Ecological approaches2. Engaged, responsive, respectful and reliable3. Youth focused, consistent approach4. Collaborative

Good Practice

Acknowledgements

YMCA Palmerston North YOSS Palmerston NorthAdventure Development LtdMt Cargill TrustLondon House Learning CentreTe Hou Ora Whanau ServicesMirror Services Whakāta Tohu Tohu Kokiri Training CentreCorstorphine Baptist Community TrustPresbyterian Support Otago Family Works YouthGrow and Buddy ProgrammePresybterian Support Upper South Island, ChristchurchCafe for Youth Health Taupo Best Training Glenfield AOG youth

2 Much YDPSouth Pacific AcademyYMCAChallenge 2000City MissionEVOLVEMission for YouthBGIPorirua Alt SchoolVIBEWellington Activity CentrePorirua Activity CentreStrengthening FamiliesBGI198 Youth HealthThe CollaborativeDistrict Health Boardsis

Bluelight Dingwall Trust Genesis ProjectMartin Hautus InstituteAIMHI Alternative Education ConsortiumAuckland Central Alternative Education ConsortiumAotea CollegeQEC College PNSt Patricks Town School Awatapu CollegeSt Peters College PNStrive Trust Kings CollegeWellington Girls CollegeThe Ministry of Education

We would like to thank all the young people who have participated in this study and taken the time to share their experiences with us. They have been generous in their time and in the effort they have put into answering a complex questionnaire. Many of the youth who participated in this research also nominated an adult who knew a lot about them (PMK) who we could interview. We would like to thank all the PMK who generously gave their time to this study.

The following individuals and organisations have provided intensive support to us at various points in the study. Professor Michael Ungar and Dr Linda Liebenberg at the Resilience Research Centre based at Dalhousie University in Halifax Canada provided the methodologies and research materials and supported us in applying their ground-breaking Canadian study in New Zealand. They have provided enormous amounts of ongoing support to the project. Kāpiti Youth Support (KYS) and particularly Raechel the Manager and Briar the social worker, Presbyterian Support Upper South Island, and in particular Sue Quinn, the Highbury Whānau Centre and particularly Michelle Swain and Anjali Butler, Pete Butler and his team at START, Youth Transitions in Palmerston North. Special thanks to Barbara, Vicki and the team at Otago Youth Wellness Trust who provided assistance and support to the Dunedin research team for the duration of the study. The Ministry of Social Development, and particularly Child Youth and Family, The Families Commission, as well as the Department of Corrections also provided ongoing support at various stages in the research which would like to acknowledge. We also acknowledge the contribution of the Victoria University Research Trust and its staff; The Donald Beasley Institute; Youthline Auckland and Otago University. Finally, we would like to thank and acknowledge the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment for funding this research. In addition to this many organisations across the country supported the research at various stages in its development and we would like to thank them for everything they have done to contribute to the research: