Youth Connections

Successful Connections

’Daniel’ loves to cook, but lacks the confi dence to experiment with diff erent foods. Through Youth Connections he was able to be supported through the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Foods 6 week cooking program. ‘Daniel’ learnt valuable skills in food and kitchen safety, and was able to cook a new recipe each week .’Daniel’ also got the feel for working in an industrial style kitchen and now will volunteer to help out at the Youth Connections weekly BBQ preparing vegetables and salads for other young people.

High School student and avid football fan, ‘Mick’ was supported by Youth Connections to join the local footie team - after a couple of nervous training sessions, he now is included as a valuable and popular member of his team. He kicked 5 goals in his fi rst 2 games and was awarded Best Player in his next match.

‘Jessica’ identifi ed with she wanted to volunteer her time to the elderly.With the support of her Youth Connections mentor she went through training and became a volunteer at a local nursing home. ‘Jessica’ found a great sense of meaning through this experience and enjoyed painting the ladies nails and doing puzzles with them also.

“It’s so rewarding for us at Youth Connections to be able to support young people to identify the path they want to take in life, seeing their confi dence and strengths develop is very inspiring.”

Candice Alusiola, Team Leader, Youth Connections

This mentoring, education and recreational program focuses on building self esteem and resilience in young people

Introducing Junction Australia

Junction Australia is a trusted and leading independent provider of quality community support and housing services. We aim to strengthen lives and communities across Australia.

Together we:

• Dynamically respond to identifi ed needs

• Encourage and support people to thrive

• Provide vibrant and inclusive places for people to connect.

Our unique services and innovative approaches focus on:

• Contributing to the safety and wellbeing of children

• Empowering and equipping young people to live well in the community

• Promoting and supporting the eff ectiveness of families

• Providing safe places for people to live, work, meet, learn and play.

“A strong thread throughout my past and current

activities is the overall connection with human

rights. In 2002-2003, I led a government review

of child protection and “Our Best Investment” was

the outcome. Subsequent experience and activities

re-enforce the importance of developing targeted

programs with communities especially for vulnerable

and disadvantaged groups, the need for agency

coordination and a “one stop shop” approach for

service delivery in community. These are strong

features of the approach taken by Junction Australia”.

The Hon Robyn Layton AO QC

Patron, Junction Australia

September 2016

Managing the Bull

Managing the Bull is a strengths-based, solution

focused program that teaches young people

strategies to build resilience and manage bullying

behaviour, using hands on activities. The program is

suitable for adolescents aged between 11-17 years old.

Independent Living Skills

This program supports young people who are either

seeking, or who have established autonomous

living status, to develop and sustain successful

independent living skills. It aims to increase:

• rates of sustained successful tenancies through

improved living and social skills

• self-esteem and self-worth through the

development of personal skills and knowledge

• knowledge of and access to local support services

that secure and support housing tenancies

• opportunities for young people to develop

leadership skills by participating as peer leaders/

mentors.

What do we mean by ‘therapeutic’? What makes our approach different?

Our people, their professional training, the

environments in which we operate and the nature

of the programs we offer – these are the core

components of our therapeutic service.

Youth Connections staff are qualified youth workers

who are also trained specifically in Therapeutic Crisis

Intervention (TCI). They are trauma-informed and

understand the impact that neglect and abuse have

on the developing brain and how this affects the

behaviour of our young people. These staff also hold

Certificates in Training, Assessment and Evaluation as

well as other qualifications in areas such as

horse-riding, water safety, surfing and kayaking.

Youth Connections engages our young people in a

wide range of programs that not only teach them

new and valuable skills, but also connect them to

their community.

Referral forms for our Youth Connections program

can be obtained from the Team Leader, Candice

Alusiola - E: calusiola@junctionaustralia.org.au

Youth Connections

Youth Connections is a mentoring, education and

recreational program which focuses on building

self-esteem and resilience in young people.

Current programs include:

RAGE

RAGE is a strength-based, solution focused anger

management course for adolescents aged 11 - 17.

The approach is hands on, practical and fun.

Life through the Lens

This program aims to increase young people’s

knowledge of photography, from taking pictures

to editing and publishing. Encouraged to look

at things from different perspectives and gain an

understanding that they are not always as they

appear, our young people build a portfolio of images

that can be collated into a book and taken with them

when they finish the program.

A Life Outdoors

This program aims to engage our young people in

a number of outdoor pursuits. We enjoy a unique

geographic position at the top of the Fleurieu Peninsula

with easy access to both the ocean and the hills,

including Onkaparinga Gorge. Our location provides

excellent opportunities for bush walking, fishing,

kayaking, bird watching, beach combing and surfing.

Drum Beat

This program is a flexible therapeutic intervention

that combines experiential learning with Cognitive

Behavioural Therapy. It effectively engages young

people who are most at risk and who may be anxious

or resistant to ‘talk based’ therapies.