Project Youth Annual Report 21-22

30years

YOUNG PEOPLE

30years

Thank you to the young people who allowed for their story to be shared so staff, volunteers, Board and funders can better understand the support, impact and outcomes. We want to centre young people’ voices and ensure the voice of young people is prominent in our learning, development and decision making. We empower young people to own their stories and share them safely.

*All names have been changed

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY

by Jessica Birk and Nell Fewell

We are here today

Gathering upon, this sacred earth

It is right to start by acknowledging, the traditional owners of this land.

The Dharawal people both past, present and future elders.

We are guests here

Mingling with the ancestors

Admiring this land and learning to conserve

I walk this land, but tread softly Paying thanks for its beauty, and its long history

To Aboriginal people, land is our family Personification, of our country.

In all of the original places, long live the original faces.

We are survivors! - Both because the land is on our side and

We know our roots, there’s no need to hide.

For the Dharawal people here we stand

You are the traditional owners of this land

We RESPECT you and look after this place Honour your memory and our surviving race.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

2021/2022 has been another difficult year working through the impacts of the pandemic and although there is an increasing need for our services from vulnerable young people who have been significantly impacted by COVID emotionally and financially, there have also been many highlights. Project Youth really is an amazing not-for-profit in the south, making such a difference to so many young people, their families, and the wider community. We also know we are not alone and acknowledge the many other community and notfor-profit services that are being impacted by COVID, bushfires and flooding across our delivery areas.

Through a well-managed Business Continuity Plan, a committed staff team and resilient young people, we were able to get through all lockdown periods with a hybrid model of remote and in person support and were able to continue to meet the needs of vulnerable young people. Our two 24/7 crisis refuges have been fully operational, and I am pleased to say we sustained effective support across all our housing, employment, education and early intervention programs.

We continue to reflect on COVID and what the pandemic has meant for Project Youth and are now moving into a phase of what we call our “living with COVID and business as usual” mindset. A positive of the pandemic is we have become more resilient and able to deal with challenges as they emerge. We haven’t let COVID stop us from delivering a range of services and program to young people to ensure they are connected, healthy, safe and achieving. Project Youth has never been stronger.

Our major contracts all renewed successfully, and we continue to work in partnership with Department of Communities and justice (DCJ) to delivery homelessness and early intervention programs to young people in South Sydney.

We were also able to obtain funding through grants and donations to continue to run our Education, Employment and Training programs: Project Educate and RAISE

Café Y continues to thrive despite numerous lockdowns, thanks to our wonderful community of supportive customers and dedicated staff, young people and volunteers. The launch of a new Café Y website has also increased our connection with locals, and we are seeing more traffic through the café as a result.

It is a well-known fact that music is good for the soul, and I am pleased to include in this report that we started two new creative music programs, “Soul Collective” and “Sound Mind”. They provide much needed therapeutic creative support for young people facing disadvantage.

Our CEO, Jodie Darge is to be congratulated for being chosen from a very competitive field into the Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA) program with 23 other CEO’s across NSW and ACT. This programme enables investment in Leadership in Not-for-Profit organisations and has brought a greater focus on developing the skills of the entire Executive Leadership Team. We would like to thank SILA for their support.

We secured an IT company, through a tender, to roll out a complete transformation of IT including

Project Youth has never been stronger.

computers, desk top stations and internet, to modernise, consistent technology and more efficient and productive practice.

Our partnerships have strengthened over the last year, and we continue to bring the voice of young people into everything we do. We launched our Youth Engagement Charter, “Rising Together”. The Rising Collective team also conducted some Mental health consultation to get insight into the mental health and well-being of young people in Project Youth. Thank you to those involved in this as it is so important to have youth voices in our work and decision making, including at a Governance level.

There have been no changes to the board in the last year, but we have been fortunate to have 2 observers join the board from Westpac and Minter Ellison. I would like to thank the board members and the observers for their commitment and contribution.

I would also like to thank our volunteer community and our wonderful staff team who continue to step up in an ever-changing environment. To the wider community of supporters, funders, donors and those who play a part in Project Youth’s success, please know we could not do what we do without all the support.

To the young people who inspire us with the way you overcome adversity and take control of determining your future, know that all who contribute to Project Youth’s success will continue to strive to improve the support we can provide.

Louise Birnie, Chair of Board

PEOPLE

MICHAEL

Michael has been missing from school, he was still enrolled, however he had not attended for over 18 months. Being under 17 years of age and without a RoSA qualification, he was potentially facing prosecution under compulsory school attendance laws. He was referred into Project Educate, our alternative school, which supports young people using distance education in a safe and inclusive setting.

Michael was already known to Project Youth through our Court Support program where he was being supported with a range of issues he was facing that were putting him at risk, including homelessness, mental health concerns, substance misuse and domestic violence. The systems were all failing him and he needed support. He faced a range of life circumstances out his control including a parent’s death and a child protection order, parental mental illness and a parent with drug and alcohol dependency.

To meet the Department of Education’s criteria to access our alternative school program, he needed a

psychiatric diagnosis to sign off on the application which Project Youth staff supported him to access. Unfortunately, it can take up to 6 months to process the application which is yet another barrier the system put in place for young people facing disadvantage, however Project Youth continued to put wrap-around supports in place while he was waiting for the process to finalise.

It is why we do what we do, as now Michael has been successfully attending Project Educate every day - which is an achievement he is extremely proud of and a goal that he didn’t think he would ever achieve. He is also being supported to manage his mental well-being, drug dependency, grief and safe housing options.

There is now also HOPE that wasn’t there before, hope for a future where he wants to enroll in TAFE, complete year 11 and 12 so he can go to university, and even get a part time job. Going from missing school for 18 months and being regularly arrested, to hope for a future where university is an option, reminds us every day why we exist as an organisation.

Project Youth has given me confidence. It’s a widely respectful environment. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning because I used to rebel and be very self-destructive. They made me feel wanted and deserving. They have helped me mould my future.

ABOUT US

At Project Youth we believe all young people, regardless of the disadvantage they may face, deserve the opportunity to thrive. We work with young people aged 12-24 across Sutherland Shire, Georges River and Bayside areas, offering programs to be connected, safe, achieving and healthy. Our work is based on trauma informed and relational approaches, as well as being delivered collectively with partner organisations and the community.

We have a five-year strategy which builds on our 30 years of service to young people and details our ambition and plans. You can access the strategy at www.projectyouth.org.au

OUR WORK

After another rollercoaster of a year with COVID continuing to provide uncertainty and volatility to our sector, we continue to hold on to the voices of the young people we serve to guide us, help us develop and grow, as well as inspire us. When you centre your purpose on young people’s futures it gives you strength that we can continue to thrive as an organisation, as we also support young people to thrive.

The best way to introduce our programs and work is through these voices:

Project Youth has given me confidence. It’s a widely respectful environment. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning because I used to rebel and be very selfdestructive. They made me feel wanted and deserving. They have helped me mould my future.

When I think of my future, I hope that one day I am able to support other young people who may end up in a similar situation to what I was in – I want other young people to know that kindness and happiness is possible.

I really appreciate this opportunity, I know I am young and I hope I don’t stuff it up, this just feels like a dream. I never expected to get a job like this and all the benefits that they are offering, you know I see Project Youth as my future.

This is why we do what we do – seeing young people develop their confidence, resilience, and capabilities, while removing barriers to thriving, and finding the space to heal, to free themselves from cycles of disadvantage. At Project Youth we don’t transform lives – we provide young people the opportunities, resources, space and capacity to transform themselves.

We do this using a Trauma Informed Practice framework that provides a set of principles, standards and approaches to guide our work. “A program, organisation, or system that is trauma-informed realises the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognises the signs and symptoms of trauma in young people, families, staff, and partners; and responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatisation.”

In practice when working with young people and their families this is done in partnership through a collaborative process of understanding, planning, advocating, coordinating and facilitating options and services to meet their needs, promote lasting positive change and developing their capacity to be independent. This is most successful when there is investment into a reliable and respectful relationship.

Our work will continue into 2022/23 to ensure more young people can thrive through education, employment, recovery and healing from trauma, safe housing, personal development, and freedom from risk taking behaviours. See our future section in this report to read more about our areas of focus for the coming years.

At Project Youth we have one integrated wrap around service with a ‘no wrong door’ approach, ensuring all young people get the help and support they need,

TRAUMA INFORMED PRINCIPLES: SAFETY TRUST COLLABORATION

VOice & CHOICE EMPOWERMENT PEER SUPPORT CULTURE

either directly through Project Youth, or through a referral to another appropriate service. A young person, family member, friend or professional can refer a young person to any of our programs and we will engage with the young person to assess what they need and how we can best support them. Many young people involved with Project Youth will access more than one of our programs. Using our relational approaches, they will be supported to achieve their full potential. All our programs throughout 2021/22 were committed to young people accomplishing one or more of our outcomes of being connected, safe, achieving and healthy.

early intervention & prevention 2 housing & homelessness 3 education, employment & training

EARLY INTERVENTION & PREVENTION

people’s issues are identified early and prevented from escalating, whilst also providing resilience and skills to successfully transition into adulthood. Our early intervention programs reduce risk factors in a young person’s life that may limit their social and economic opportunities, negatively impact their development, and increase the likelihood of health problems (physical/mental), exploitation, criminal involvement and drug and alcohol use. These programs also increase protective factors across individual, family and community characteristics that can help mitigate the risks and increase a young person’s overall well-being and ability to thrive.

At Project Youth we see the positive impact of early intervention and we will continue to advocate for investment in this area to ensure families that face disadvantage can receive the support they need to avoid escalation of issues and the potential long lasting impact. Investment in targeted early intervention programs can support families by improving employment and education engagement, improving health and wellbeing, increasing social participation and community connectedness while also reducing the conditions that lead to homelessness, chronic health problems and engagement with the justice system. This social, human and economic capital is essential for recovery and healing.

This year the Early Intervention team supported 1,690 young people directly through our programs while also facilitating another 1,872 young people to access services and safe spaces including our youth centres.

During the COVID lockdowns of 21/22, Early Intervention team members took their programs online again ensuring we could continue to facilitate connections, support and achievement for young people in their care. This included online trivia, art workshops, music programs, 1:1 support and parenting programs. The team also created a range of videos to support parents of teens with a range of issues like

understanding risk taking behaviours. Despite the lockdowns and continued impact of the pandemic, early intervention widened their support network with new partnerships across schools, while continuing to strengthen existing partnerships with local services and police with joint training and delivery of programs.

See below for all the key highlights over the last year across all the Early Intervention programs.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS:

Under our community events programs we delivered a range of programs that supported the wider community. This included support to access courses and employment opportunities; drug and alcohol presentations; presentations to grandparents who support their grandchildren in caring roles; and presentations on adolescent development and strategies to support young people.

SCHOOL PROGRAMS:

Project Youth deliver a range of programs in schools including healthy relationships, couch surfing, anger management, alcohol and drugs, and genderbased groups. The youth workers provide both group programs and 1:1 support for young people who are identified by teachers within their schools, as needing additional supports. The program is designed to support young people who are at risk of disengaging from education to remain in school and improve their attendance. The program was able to continue during COVID with many of the young people shifted to more intensive 1:1 support and online groups.

HYAP:

HYAP (Homeless Youth Assistance Program) works with young people 12-16 years of age who are at risk of homelessness. At Project Youth, HYAP encompasses the Mentoring Program, Family Conversations and the Youth and Family Support Program. The mentoring program trains volunteer mentors who are matched to work with young people, supporting them to feel safe,

Early Intervention is an important stream of work as it ensures young

increase their connections, achievement and healthy lifestyles. Our family support program works intensively with young people to support re-connection with families, wider community networks or into long

term transitional housing. The 12-month mentoring program aims to engage young people with a positive role model external to services/family, who can provide positive support and assist young people to engage positively within their local community. Both programs are based on strengths focussed and trauma informed approaches, which aim to embed continuity of care for young people through Project Youth services into independence.

YOUTH & FAMILY SUPPORT:

This program provides young people and their families support, information and advice with a focus to minimise the escalation of issues. The Youth and Family Support worker has a specific focus on young people 12-16 years who are at risk of homelessness. The remaining Early Intervention support is delivered for a broad range of young people including young parents, parents of adolescents, and individual young people aged 12-24. The workers provide targeted early intervention to young people through increasing social participation, running parenting programs, increasing family capacity, and providing information, advice, and intensive support. The support is focussed on the de-escalation of issues, identifying appropriate community support, embedding protective factors and building resilience.

ADOLESCENT FAMILY COUNSELLOR (AFC)

The Adolescent Family Counsellor (AFC) provides support to young people and their families where there are concerns or issues with communication, dysfunction or relationship breakdown. This includes providing parents and teenagers with support to live together, improve their trust, respect and support to negotiate the difficulties that may arise on the path from childhood to adulthood. The AFC works with the whole family to rebuild relationships through open communication, increasing awareness from parents about their young person and their feelings, and working to negotiate ways for the family to live together more harmoniously. The AFC delivers the program both in person and through tele-counselling depending on the most effective approach with the family.

OUTREACH:

Our outreach program takes a youth service to young people, where they are located. The program aims to meet young people in the community who may be at risk or engaging in at risk behaviour, and provides them with information and advice to minimise harm, promote safe behaviours, and connect to support services. The Outreach Worker provides trauma informed outreach support, for young people who are sleeping rough, hanging out in the streets or local parks, disengaged from services, engaged in drug and alcohol misuse, at risk, or involved in the criminal justice system. The program intersects with both our drop in and Court Support programs, as many young people are involved across all three programs. The program depends on effective partnerships with police, council and other local stakeholders, to identify new areas where at risk behaviours are occurring, to fund and to provide opportunities for increased engagement across the region.

COURT SUPPORT:

Court support remains an integral pathway of early intervention support for young people involved in Children’s Court. Project Youth provides young people involved in the criminal justice system access to a support worker who can connect them with relevant services and resources, including legal aid, in-court support, referral, and advice. Court support initiates the building of positive relationships with young people and is a key way to engage young people with multiple and complex needs to other support services and programs both internally at Project Youth or through external providers.

WORK DEVELOPMENT ORDERS:

All young people with accumulated debt, and who are supported by Project Youth, continue to have access to the Work and Development Order Scheme (WDO). Under the WDO scheme ‘disadvantaged people who have accumulated fines can clear their debts by undertaking activities which benefit them and their local community’. Project Youth continue to support all young people, already engaged with our programs, with their debt through this scheme. Project Youth work with the young people and relevant authorities to arrange and supervise work that can be used to reduce and remove debts for young people. This work has included gardening, painting, furniture removal, cleaning, decorating and demolition. Young people can also pay off debts through participation in appropriate groups or counselling sessions.

HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS

Youth homelessness remains a big issue in NSW with Project Youth supporting 433 12-24 year olds over the last financial year to find safe housing options. At Project Youth we are able to offer a range of options including crisis refuges, semi-independent refuges, transitional housing and rent choice youth subsidy. However, this is not enough and in addition to the 162 young people we provided housing for, there were another 271 we provided wrap around support, advocacy or advice as we did not have the beds available to provide accommodation options to all the referrals we receive. Throughout COVID we have seen this gap widen further and the demand for social and affordable housing increasing.

The majority of our referrals are 15-17 year olds and the main presenting reason young people are referred to us for housing support is due to family/relationship breakdown.

When we reviewed the support plans and outcomes with young people transitioning out of our housing program, 95% who had set support goals achieved their goals either partially or fully, with the majority, 90%, transitioning to safe housing options including family, friends, private rental, social housing, other service housing. Of the remaining 10%, 1% were incarcerated and 9% disengaged and we had no further contact.

To ensure ongoing learning and development the Housing team conducted 34 audits over the last year, as a part of the quality assurance cycle, to ensure we are consistently reflecting and improving our practice and the impact to young people. Aligned to our quality assurance cycle we also embed feedback, advice and engagement from young people which has led to changes in policy and procedure and a new program being developed.

During COVID all of our accommodation services continued delivering our full-service provision with no reductions or changes to our offer.

There was a need for Project Youth to increase the casual staffing pool this year to be able to manage unexpected staff leave due to high levels of COVID transmission and to provide additional support for young people to re-engage in education and employment (where COVID had impacted their employment) to prevent rent arrears and tenancy issues. We also had a number of young people contract COVID over the Christmas period and additional support was provided including delivery of food/medications and updating young people with NSW Health advice.

Project Youth is committed to youth homelessness reduction and prevention and the housing team work tirelessly to support young people in both removing the barriers to sustaining housing and preventing homeless in the first place.

Our Youth Homeless and Housing Programs in 2021/22 included:

CRISIS REFUGES (PENNY’S & THE BRIDGE)

Project Youth has two crisis refuges called The Bridge (in Sutherland Shire) and Penny’s (in Georges River). Both refuges support young people in crisis by providing short term accommodation and intensive trauma informed support to move from crisis to semisupported services, return to their family home or into transitional housing (either at Project Youth or another service). This prevents homelessness, provides living skills and access to services to support social and economic stability. Some of the key areas the staff work on with the young people includes health (physical and mental), family restoration, education, employment, community connections, practical skills, confidence building, accessing identification and benefits, and increasing resilience. Each refuge can accommodate five young people at a time for up to three months. While under 16-year-old referrals remained a trend within the crisis refuges, we have also noticed an increase in young people aged 17 & 18 requiring crisis accommodation after escaping

domestic violence within the family home over the past year. Staff have engaged in strengthening our relationship with the Sutherland DCJ office to increase the support and accommodation options for under 16’s accommodated in refuges with significant and complex needs.

SEMI-INDEPENDENT HOUSING

Project Youth have three semi-supported housing programs - The Hut, Henry’s and Jacaranda Cottage. We provide 12 beds across our semi-supported provision where young people can be accommodated and supported for up to 12-18 months. The Hut and Henry’s are managed internally by Project Youth staff while Jacaranda Cottage is commissioned by Project Youth, and managed through Kingsway Community Care. All young people in our semi-supported provision are supported to transition to independence through an individualised support plan.

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

The Transitional Housing program supports young people aged between 16-24 years experiencing homelessness, with accommodation and support for up to 18 months. We provide housing options across the Sutherland Shire, Georges River and Bayside Local Government Areas. The transitional housing program also assists young people through individualised support plans to address personal, social and educational barriers that may prevent them from accessing the private rental market. Through consultations with young people, the team continue to review and update processes to ensure the program is working effectively with young people from referral and intake through to outcomes and transitioning from our service.

RENT CHOICE SUBSIDY FOR YOUTH

Rent Choice Subsidy for Youth is a Department of Communities and Justice product providing timelimited financial assistance and support to young people who have had difficulty finding suitable housing to assist them to access appropriate, affordable and safe housing in the private rental market. Financial assistance is provided as a rental subsidy for up to three years following the establishment of a private tenancy.

Project Youth is a partner agency for the program,

supporting young people to refer into the program. Once accepted we work with the young person to find a suitable property and develop an individualised plan with a focus on supports required to sustain a tenancy and improve individual training and employment outcomes.

YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CAMPAIGN

Youth Homelessness Matters Day this year was held at our Miranda Youth Centre. We opened our doors to welcome young people from our housing programs as well as members of the community to come and chat with workers and pick up resources. We offered donated home goods to 30 young people and supported our community to learn more about our work and our housing programs. AS a part of the day we set up a board asking attendees to discuss youth homelessness, in particular what our local governments and politicians should be doing about it. These messages were then passed on to our local politicians, urging them to listen and understand the real and growing issues of youth homelessness in the areas they cover.

“Thanks for the youth worker at the course. She helped me find safe housing and gave me an opal card so I could get to the course each day.”

KEY

through

day campaign in person and through social media. Donations of food, toiletries and cooking items were received and distributed to young people.

Project Youth is committed to youth homelessness reduction and prevention and the housing team work tirelessly to support young people...

EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING3

A young person is unlikely to break the cycle of disadvantage and homelessness without access to education, employment and training (EET). EET is a key determinant of a young person achieving social and economic goals, exiting homelessness and sustaining long term financial stability. Early school leavers are less likely than their peers to have the skills, confidence and positive role models to obtain and sustain employment, which impacts significantly on other areas such as health, well-being, connections and safety. The COVID pandemic has impacted young people across many interconnected life domains, including a negative impact on education and employment.

Throughout the lockdowns and significant impact on young people the EET team continued to support young people to access income support, remain in education, access training and through pathways into employment. Our three core programs, Café Y, Project Educate and Labour Y (now called RAISE), all continued to operate, supporting young people to still thrive throughout immense challenges and unknown future impact of the COVID pandemic. As with all our programs, young people are provided with trauma-informed support to ensure any barriers to achievement are removed, so they form connections that continue to support them once they have transitioned out of our programs.

This year the EET Team supported a cohort of young people on an ‘Introduction into Youth & Community Services’ as so many young people want to ‘give back and help others like they were helped’. All of these young people have gone on to study the Diploma of Community Services ensuring young people with lived experience can go on to support others.

They also trialled a new Financial Literacy program for young people in the workforce to great success. Finding and securing employment is only a part of the equation and adding support to manage a budget,

pay taxes, understand superannuation and create a saving plan brings a lot of added value to the longevity of financial sustainability for young people.

COVID lockdown’s were not just a situation to be endured when you had “Cooking with Café Y” and “Trivia with Tash” to look forward to. Tash is a young person who has been supported through a range of the Project Youth services over the years and who is now working at Café Y, our social enterprise café that exists to support young people into the hospitality industry. While the café was closed in lockdown, Tash & Jen (our Café Manager at the time) went on line and hosted a series of sessions with young people in our housing programs to help them cook amazing dishes from the OzHarvest hampers they were provided. Each week OzHarvest would donate hampers which were distributed to young people in lockdown by our volunteers and staff team. Jen and Tash would go through and develop recipes from the ingredients and then go online to do a live cooking session. The young people loved these sessions and looked forward to them each week.

Speaking of Tash, after Jen our dedicated Café Y Manager of the past 6 years resigned, we used this as an opportunity to re-think how Café Y operates. We have now re-imagined Café Y to be 100% operated and managed by young people and Tash was promoted to the Café Manager position. We want to ‘walk our talk’ at Project Youth, so any way we can, we strive to raise the achievements of young people with lived experience and this is just one example of how we can do that.

Our EET Programs in 2021/22 included:

LABOUR Y (RAISE)

Labour Y changed it’s name to RAISE during this year as we shifted the main focus from labour hire to broader employment and training options. The core aim remains to support young people facing disadvantage within the Sutherland Shire, Georges River and Bayside Council areas, into sustainable

employment and educational programs (courses and training). This is achieved through the support of staff; sector and corporate partners; local businesses and local education facilities.

This, at times, has been the difference to the young person obtaining and sustaining employment, instead of repeating the cyclical natures of generational unemployment. Labour Y strives to not only build on a young person’s employability skill, but also to connect young people to wider community groups and intergenerational programs, and facilitating employment skill workshops.

CAFÉ Y

Café Y provides coffee with a conscience. It is a vibrant community café that provides training and work placements for young people who face disadvantage, and would not be able to thrive without community support. The Café is based in Menai, serving quality food and coffee to local people and businesses, either on site at the Café or through catering to meetings and events. Café Y gives young people the opportunity to obtain the training and trauma informed support required to achieve a Certificate III in hospitality, with pathways into further training and employment opportunities including traineeships within the café. Café Y is very community focused and has many regular community groups visiting for coffee, cake and lunch.

HOSPITALITY PROGRAM

The Hospitality program at Project Youth supports young people facing disadvantage to achieve a Nationally Recognised Certificate III in Hospitality. The course provides hands on practical work experience and training classes for students to attain the skills to work in the hospitality industry. The young people in the program also benefit from individualised support from Project Youth staff who assist with transportation, food, clothing, medical appointments and support for juvenile justice issues. Not only do the young people gain a qualification in hospitality, but they also build strong friendships, develop social skills, gain confidence and self- esteem. Project Youth also assists with the transition and support to further education opportunities, training and employment once the young people have graduated.

PROJECT EDUCATE

Engagement in education is a key factor in producing equitable social and employment outcomes for young people, as well as being a protective factor for wellbeing. It provides the opportunity for young people to thrive in society, thereby avoiding poverty, homelessness and unemployment.

Project Educate is an alternative education school for young people disengaged from mainstream school or education. Young people are engaged through flexible learning, hands on practical skills, traumainformed support, mentoring and transition into further education, employment and training. The school operates five days per week, with built in practical sessions, career development and activities outside the learning environment.

All students are supported through distance education to achieve their schooling qualifications. The young people are engaged through existing partnerships that Project Youth already has with key stakeholders, including schools, police, legal aid, courts, councils, DCJ and community health.

PEER EDUCATION

Play Safe Summer Survival is a peer education and prevention program focussed on increasing young people’s knowledge around mental health, sexual health and safe sexual practices. The program uses trained young peer educators delivering short surveys with key messages to engage young people in conversations about their physical, mental and sexual health. The program is run with support from NSW Department of Health and is a key strategic program for reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections amongst young people.

PEER EDUCATION

“Thank you for helping me with finding a

I really thought it was going to be much harder during COVID but it was great with your support and the people are so nice to me there.”

RISING COLLECTIVE

At Project Youth we believe all young people deserve the opportunity to thrive despite the disadvantages they may face. This includes ensuring young people have a voice in decisions that affect them either individually, operationally or socially. We are committed to meaningful and genuine engagement that is based on our values of RESPECT, QUALITY, INTEGRITY, PARTNERHSIP and INNOVATION.

We believe young people are our future and it is only with their voices and lived expertise being central to our policies, decisions, planning and strategy that we can also thrive as an organisation and through the social impact we can achieve together.

R O

rioritising young people having a voice in social change and issues that matter to

ecognising and celebrating young people, their achievements and the impact of their voice

ffering opportunities to have a voice in all decisions that matter to or impact them

ointly working in partnership with young people to make effective decisions

videncing the impact of youth engagement through quality assurance & feedback

o-designing and collaborating with young people on policy, plans, events & strategy

raining and supporting young people to be fully equipped to engage and participate

Y

O

oung people with lived experience being the experts in their lives

U

pening all decision-making structures to involve young people with transparency and trust

nderstanding need, demand, technology, policy and social issues impacting young people

T

rauma informed practice, ensuring inclusivity and safety in all our engagement

elping remove any barriers to engagement through creative and innovative approaches

WE ENGAGE:

CONSULTED

CONTRIBUTING

PARTNERING

LEADING

YOUNG PEOPLE

MEET

I now want to take every opportunity that comes my way.

Music is soul soothing, healing and a place of refuge for many young people. Our Studio Y at Project Youth is a place where young people from all walks of life can come and express themselves, their trauma and their life story through music – be that song writing, sounds, singing or another form of artistic expression. Music can heal and soothe the deepest of wounds and we have seen many lives transformed through access to creative expression in life.

May was assessed by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) as a young person who needed support. She was not attending school, experiencing family dysfunction, mental health concerns, harmful self-medicating and frequent drug use. She was also involved in the Youth Justice system and needed to have a Youth Justice Conference (YJC) – this is when Project Youth became involved, as we will often support young people through the YJC process.

A Project Youth worker had a chat with May to listen to her story and find out what she needed, wanted and hoped for in her life. Through this process of listening and hearing the young person’s story we are able to link them into the person and/or programs that are best placed to support them to thrive, heal, recover and grow.

May was introduced to our Studio Y program through which she was able to develop connections with staff and other young people – these connections into services, peers and community are essential for young people with relationships forming the foundation for most of our work.

May learnt to set goals and achieve these through planning, selfmanagement, researching her options, gaining confidence and trusting herself. May wrote, produced and released a song which she said was a point of no going back for her. May said “I now no longer need drugs to cope with life.”

The connections, achievements and support became key for May to make a range of positive changes in her life. She is now linked into services that maintain her connections and enable her to get the support she needs.

May is now a regular attendee at alternative education and continues to engage in the Studio Y music program. She recently told us “I now want to take every opportunity that comes my way”.

May’s story continues…

OUR

FUTURE

We are now three years into our Strategic Plan 2019-2024 and have been abundantly proud of the Project Youth team for standing strong in the face of ongoing adversity in the sector from climate change, through COVID lockdowns and natural disaster, to increasing social and mental health issues in society.

As a team (including all paid and unpaid team members) we have embedded our Trauma Informed Practice Framework, finalised an outcomes framework, continued our professional and organisational learning and development, as well as centered the voices of young people through both our Rising Collective group and our Youth Engagement & Participation strategy. All 3 of our teams, Housing and Homelessness, Early Intervention, and Education, Employment and Training, have not only met but exceeded their targets ensuring that we keep extending ourselves, our capability and our capacity to do as much as possible with what we have.

Our CEO was also selected to be involved in the Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA) program with 23 other CEO’s from NSW and ACT which has widened our network, supported our Leadership to be adaptive and helped the organisation remain flexible in facing the challenges that come our way.

In years 4 & 5 of our strategy we are focusing on our structures, systems and models to ensure they are fit for purpose to best serve young people facing disadvantages. We will contine to evolve and shape our organisation based on our learning, feedback, experiences, data and the voices of the young people for who we exist, so we can scale and grow our impact for the benefit of the system we work within.

This future work includes:

• Remodeling one of semi-independent housing programs to ensure we remain responsive to our cohort of young people needing semi-supported accommodation

• Completing our ASES accreditation process, which we have started and progressing to targets

• Completing the upgrade of all our IT and phone systems with additional grant funding from DCJ enabling us to modernise our technology

• Reviewing our risk management plan – to continue to remain resilient in the face of climate change, Government changes, and other political, social, technological and financial risks that we can face

• Implementation of our Reconciliation Action Plan - establishing existing relationships and building new partnerships with Aboriginal service providers in our area

• Lifting our gaze to the system we work within ensuring we are focussed on our impact wider than just our organisation

• Continue to review and learn about the impact of COVID long term on our services, the ways we work, staff well-being, and young people – including well-being programs and support for staff as well as young people facing impacts from the previous 3 years

• Financial sustainability through an investment and funding strategy that supports Project Youth continuing to increase impact, diversify funding and scale reach

Advocating for:

A National Homelessness and Housing Plan that includes a separate plan to address specific issues for young people facing homelessness. This includes the lack of social housing stock and lack of affordable housing for young people.

The cost-of-living crisis and its impact on young people

The mental health crisis and difficulty accessing the required support

Unaccompanied young people in the homelessness system and their ‘adultifcaiton’ to function in this system

For sector capability and capacity, reducing red tape for funding applications and tender processes and keeping indexation in line and consistent

A need for longer term funding to support workforce in the covid recovery as well as plan longer term

Evidence based early intervention programs which support young people falling through the systems

We look forward to facing these challenges together with young people, not just with a seat at the table, but leading the way.

OUR TEAM

The beating heart of our organisation is the incredible team of paid and unpaid workers who tirelessly support the amazing, talented and resilient young people we serve. The year 2021/2022 continued to throw a range of challenges and obstacles at our paid and unpaid team. We had learnt a lot from the previous 2 years of facing COVID, bushfires and floods and we were more than ready to ensure we could remain a stable and responsive service for young people facing disadvantages. We remained driven by our central purpose “to create opportunities for young people to determine their own future” because we believe all young people deserve to thrive and we gathered our strength from looking after each other, prioritising staff well-being and a focus on continuous learning and development.

The impact and outcomes detailed in this report evidence the commitment of the team to ensure all young people can thrive despite the challenges they face. They deserve sincere thanks and gratitude for continuing to show up throughout a pandemic and keeping Project Youth delivering high quality trauma informed support, resources and programs to young people in flexible and creative ways.

All team members were vigilant of our Business Continuity Plan and continued mitigating any risks through policy adherence, ensuring we could continue to deliver our essential in person services throughout the ongoing lockdowns in this period.

We implemented new online training for volunteers and new staff in 2022 which was an effective addition to our current onboarding and induction process. This training provides foundational knowledge of our programs, partner services, history, policy, key staff

and trauma informed practice framework enabling a robust framework of safe and inclusive practice across all paid and unpaid team members.

Both our student and volunteer numbers are lower this financial year. Due to the nature of our work the majority of our service delivery is in person and based on relational practice therefore it was not always safe or effective to have new people starting during COVID lockdowns. We still highly value the work of our volunteers and the development of new students, and therefore we will continue to focus on the programs where they can provide added value to the impact and outcomes for young people.

There is an African proverb that we use at Project Youth that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. At Project Youth we walk together with our team, the young people we serve, our funders and the community who surround us to ensure ALL young people regardless of the disadvantages they face can thrive.

We remained driven by our central purpose “to create opportunities for young people to determine their own future”

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

DEBORAH HOLDEN

Deborah has been volunteering her time for Project Youth for over 15 years and is by far our longest serving volunteer. What a special person it takes to give up their time, resources and energy to benefit young people in the local community. Deborah started out as a Board Director, serving on the Board for 14 years and contributing her skills and knowledge from her Social Work background and experience. Deborah, along with the other Directors, governed and guided the organisation ensuring Project Youth is still thriving 30 years later. Deborah decided to leave the Board in 2021, however she has stayed a part of the Project Youth family by continuing to volunteer her time at our alternative Education provision, called Project Educate and is also supporting our Hospitality course. Deborah was also a TAFE teacher for many years and she really values education for all young people. Project Youth are very privileged to have her vast experience and skills, still guiding and supporting our young people. The staff and young people who have worked alongside Deborah have valued her calm, thoughtful and kind approach as well as benefited from her specialist knowledge and experience in the social sector.

people

OUR FINANCES

The financial position of the Project Youth remained strong in fiscal year 2022 despite significant reduction in extraordinary COVID-19 related government stimulus.

Project Youth achieved this through prudent management of expenses as well as using the strong balance sheet for capital expenditure to boost productivity.

The capital investment Project Youth made should pay dividends in the future with increase efficiencies from productivity gains, such as improved IT infrastructure and cloud based programs.

This was in spite of the less than favourable performance of our investments, which are currently under a long term review. The less than favourable performance can be attributed to market based issues, such as the sudden and mostly unexpected increase in inflation and interest rates.

The positive performance can be again attributed to the amazing performance of our front line staff, line managers and the operation team. Whilst there is always a lag between the board, management and front line staff I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the continued hard work and commitment to Project Youth. It is always with great pleasure and privilege to author this report, whilst reviewing the last 12 months financial and nonfinancial data.

Project Youth receives significant government grants for our core focus on Housing and Homelessness, however, there has been an increase in diversification of funding to provide young people with access to Education, Employment and Training Opportunities. This continues to be of strategic importance to Project Youth.

FINANCIAL POSITION

Project Youth’s net assets totaled $3,009,069 million on June 30, 2022, increasing by $255,228 or 9.5 percent during the fiscal year.

Cash balances increase slightly over the year, again providing evidence of continued cash flow management.

OPERATING RESULTS

Project Youth ended the fiscal year total comprehensive income of $255,228 which is in line with previous financial years, when one off government stimulus is accounted for.

As previously mentioned, cash flow remained strong with a net positive of $34,188, which is a strong result as stimulus funding and cash reserves were invested back into Project Youth.

It is also worth mentioning that PY receives significant grants in advance which can be cash flow negative, so positive cash flow outcomes do represent continued strong financial management.

AUDITORS REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

SDJA has provided audited reports for a second year now and feedback has been positive, with no significant issues or errors noted. We would like to thank SDJA for their comprehensive reporting and assistance.

Peter Taniane, Treasurer.

OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

MEET JANE*

For the first time I am now at peace with myself and the trauma I have gone through.

I finally feel healed from my past and the issues which kept holding me back. This would not have been possible without the support of the strong, inspiring women that supported me during the time I was with Project Youth. They all showed me what kindness and happiness was, as I had never experienced this before in my life before coming to Project Youth.

I will never forget Project Youth for the rest of my life and will always be thankful for the housing options and support I received over the past 4 years.

One of the best things was being able to work with one worker for the majority of my time with Project Youth as this helped build a comfortable and trusting relationship. They made me feel safe and provided resources that I still use today to remind me what a safe relationship looks like.

When I think of my future, I hope that one day I am able to support other young people who may end up in a similar situation to what I was in – I want other young people to know that kindness and happiness is possible.

THE FOREST

A young person wrote this poem for POEM FOREST, a partnership with the australian botanic garden. For every nature poem received a tree is planted to help heal habitats.

Roots flowing,

Leaves blowing,

The trees around are ever growing.

The sun is glowing,

birds are singing Don’t let the forest die,

a poem for our world, To keep it all alive!

like to say thank you

THANK

GOVERNMENT

Sutherland Shire Council

of Communities & Justice

Unit NSW Health

Georges River Council

Development & Leadership Program

CORPORATE AND BUSINESS DONATIONS

Consulting

Thank

to

supporters

have changed the lives of local young people facing disadvantage this year.

to you, these young people have been given the opportunity to thrive, no matter the disadvantage they face. You help to safeguard the future of our community by supporting young people to be safe, happy, achieving and healthy. It is a privilege to work with you and share the responsibility of caring for our community.

Kind Sydney

Caringbah Rotary Club

Coco Cola Foundation

Club Central Menai and Hurstville

Commonwealth Bank

Cronulla Bootcamp

Cronulla Surfing Academy

Elouera Surf Life Saving Club

Engadine Uniting Church

Future Generation Australia

Grill’d

IGA

Lions Club Lugarno

Cause Gift Fund

Ozharvest

Your Social Chapter

Rotary Club of Miranda

Rotary Club of Sutherland

Specsavers

Belron Ronnie Lubner Charitable Foundation (Obrien Glass)

Trusted Business Network

- SILA Program