Youth Services

 

'Inspiring Rural Youth to Make Dreams Happen'

Through its Youth Services programs Centacare works with over 600 at risk young, and mainly Indigenous people aged 13 – 24 in Central and Far West NSW. Youth Services aims to make a positive impact in the lives of young people in each of the following areas:

• Personal significance
• Connectedness
• Engagement in enterprise

To achieve these aims, Youth Services creates opportunities towards:

• Developing self confidence, life-skills and motivation
• Encouraging positive engagement in mainstream schooling
• Engaging early school leaver in alternate learning towards Year 10 and/or vocational accreditation  
• Developing job-readiness skills
• Expanding awareness of training and employment opportunities
  
• Increasing engagement in traineeships and employment

Moving Beyond Barriers

For many young people, the challenges to move beyond social, cultural and geographical barriers are complex, as they deal with family hurts, poor role models, isolation and limited local resources. Youth Services provides the opportunity for a new start through the sensitive support, perseverance and dedication of the team of 15 dedicated youth workers spread across Central and Far West NSW.  With the support of Social Ventures Australia, Youth Services is developing a comprehensive evaluation framework to identify trends and best practice models.

Partnership Brokers

In 2010 CentaCare became Partnership Brokers for the Upper Darling, Central Tablelands and Far West regions. This collaborative new programme forms part of the National Partnership on Youth Attainment and Transition and will work alongside the Youth Connections Program to ensure all young people have access to the support, skills and knowledge they need to make a successful transition through life.