Reconnect Hervey Bay

Reconnect Fraser Coast

"Early Intervention Program that seeks to improve the quality of  Interaction  for
Young People and their Families in the Fraser Coast area.''

Introduction

On 14 December 1998, the Prime Minister announced a new youth homelessness early intervention program. He committed the Government to spend an additional $60 million over four years (with ongoing funding of $20 million a year) on a range of community based early intervention services aimed at family reconciliation for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and their families.

The Reconnect Program was established in response to a principal recommendation of the final report of the Prime Ministerial Youth Homelessness Taskforce "Putting Families in the Picture''. The program is based on the framework and key concepts identified by this Taskforce and draws on good practice principles developed in

Youth Homelessness Pilot Program (YHPP), in which 26 services Australia wide trialed a range of early intervention and family relations approaches to youth homelessness.

Services for the Reconnect Program are delivered by community organisations that are funded by the Department of Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). Reconnect commenced operation in late 1999 with 29 services, the majority of which were previously service providers for YHPP. Another 36 services commenced in July 2000, and this will build to 100 services by July 1 2001.

"To improve the level of engagement of homeless young people or those at the risk of homelessness with family, work, education, training and the community.''

The objective is to be achieved by the following strategies:

+ using family focused early intervention strategies to achieve family reconciliation;

+ improving coordination of services delivered by government and the community sector; and

+ working with Centrelink, young people and their parents to ensure that income support at the away from home rate (where appropriate) is available to young people who are properly entitled to it.

Outcomes for the Program are:

Family reconciliation, wherever practicable, between homeless young people, or those at risk of homelessness and their family.

Family reconciliation outcomes include:

+ the young person returns home;

+ the creation of ongoing positive family relationships which provide the young person with emotional and  physical support;

+ reconciling the young person with other family members (eg grandparents or siblings);

+ both parent(s) and the young person accepting that independence is appropriate for the young person; and

+ establishing a viable support system for the independent young person that includes a member of his/her family;

+ engagement of young  homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness, with employment, education, training and community;

+ involvement of funded services in assisting Centrelink,  young people and their parents throughout the income support assessment process;

+ innovative approaches to service delivery through the application of the seven good practice principles and action research as outlined in these guidelines;

+ that its management and administration reflects the partnership relationship between community organisations and government;

+ that the target communities build on their existing capacity to develop appropriate responses to their own needs; and

+ the participation of Indigenous communities.

Target Groups

Funding is provided to organisations in return for the delivery of services to young people aged 12 to 18 years who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and their families.

Communities of High Need

Organisations funded under the Program service the needs of the target groups in an identified community of high need in their State or Territory.

These communities of high need have been established in a process whereby each State and Territory Government recommended to the Minister for Family and Community Services a number of target communities across Australia for funding under the Program. The process by which “high need’’ was established involved checking against a range of community stress indicators, for example, high levels of school drop out, youth suicide, and youth and general unemployment rates, and other socio-economic and locational factors.

Action Research

Reconnect services play a dual role. Whilst they have one role of direct early intervention service delivery to young people and their families, they also have a broader role of facilitating the development of better early intervention capacity in the region or communities in which they are located. This two part role is inter-related and arises in large part from the character of early intervention and the complexity and diversity of issues early intervention might respond to.

While it is clear that there are a number of good principles that apply generally across different contexts there is no formula for the particular model for a particular location. The existing service mix, demographics, auspicing location, cultural norms, to mention a few, will give each area or target community a character of its own. Action research at its most basic provides a framework and set of tools for developing and then continuing to modify and improve a local early intervention  strategy.