The Youth Advocate Program (YAP) Evaluation Report Highlights Resilience Research Centre Dalhousie University Date: July 2012 What is the Youth Advocate Program?

The Youth Advocate Program (YAP) targets youth between the ages of 9 – 14 who show a risk of gang-involvement and engagement in criminal behaviour. Youth are referred to the program by school staff, police, parents, or community members when they present at least two of the following risk factors: • Alcohol or drug use • Frequently in trouble with the law/involved in criminal activity • High commitment to friends involved in criminal activity • Friends/family members are gang members • Conflict between home and school life • Gangs in and around school/neighbourhood • Lack of adult role models, parental criminality/violent attitudes, siblings with anti-social behaviour The YAP operated as a pilot project from 2008 to 2010. During this time the program was implemented in six HRM communities: • Bayer’s Road/Fairview • Spryfield • Woodside/Gaston Road • East Dartmouth • North Dartmouth • Uniacke Square and surrounding areas The YAP uses an adapted WRAPAROUND approach, where they aim to connect disadvantaged youth and their families to a range of supports and resources that address multiple needs in a comprehensive manner. Effective elements of the WRAPAROUND model that have been integrated into the YAP are: • Putting people and their individual needs first • Developing individualized action plans • Focusing on the family as a whole system and involving them in decisionmaking • Participation of people in case planning • Ensuring the safety of the staff, families and youth • Respecting the culture of youth and families • Continuity over time • A non-blaming/strengths-based approach • A single integrative plan that involves community supports and service providers • Emphasizing approaches that are efficient and effective YAP EVALUATION REPORT

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“I think one of our roles is not only navigation, connection, relationship building, collaborative efforts, and case management, but we do a lot of mediation.” - YAW

What are the goals of the YAP?

The main goal of the YAP is to reduce youths’ involvement with gangs by addressing factors, such as lack of school attachment, role models, self-esteem, engagement in anti-social behaviours, family relationships, bullying, and gang membership.

What happens when a youth gets involved with the YAP?

Youth who are referred to the YAP go through an intake process where a Youth Advocate Worker (YAW) meets with them and their family to assess their needs. During these meetings, the YAW talks with the youth and their parent/primary caregiver. They also administer questionnaires that ask about the youth’s individual strengths/assets, relationships to parent(s)/caregiver(s), connection to community, school and teacher attachments, school environment, prosocial behaviour, peer conflicts, impulsiveness, engagement in risk-taking behaviours (e.g. delinquency, substance use), attitudes towards gangs/guns, violence and aggression and experience with victimization. This approach determines whether a youth is the right fit for the YAP. Youth accepted into the program are assigned a YAW. The YAW works with the youth and their family to coordinate and advocate for supports and services in the community that build on the youth’s strengths and interests. Commitment on the part of the youth and their family is an important factor when admitting a youth to the program. Each YAW works with no more than five youth at a time for an average of five hours a week per youth. Youth remain in the program for as long as they need, while the YAWs help to facilitate positive attachments to family, peers, and community that discourage involvement in gang-related activities.

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What is the evidence that YAP works?

The Resilience Research Centre (RRC), led by Dr. Michael Ungar and Dr. Linda Liebenberg of Dalhousie University, conducted a three year evaluation of the YAP (funded by the National Crime Prevention Centre) to measure the structure of the program, as well as its activities and outcomes.

RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE • DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

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“The YAP and the YAWs have been an agent of change…they questioned some of the established procedures in place that were really holding us back… it was kind of refreshing.” - Executive Committee Member

The YAP evaluation

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The RRC’s evaluation team engaged in both quantitative and qualitative data collection to explore the program inputs, program activities, and program outputs. As a means of evaluating the measurable outcomes of the program, the questionnaires that youth complete when entering the program, are completed again every six months while in the program and then upon exiting the program for the following two years. Qualitative data collection through one-on-one interviews with youth and their parent(s)/caregiver(s), file reviews of active and inactive case records of the YAWs, and focus groups with stakeholders (e.g. management team, advisory committees and the YAP staff). This helped to provide an important understanding of the questionnaire data and program outcomes. Quarterly and annual reports of the evaluation were shared with the YAP to help improve the program over the course of the pilot project. The highlights of the final report are provided in this document.

“Until they‘ve (youth) met us they haven‘t met somebody who‘s stuck by, stuck with them. They‘ve always had the experience of people just not following through. So their judgments are still up there.” - YAW

Who are the youth involved with YAP?

The youth accepted into the YAP program show a minimum of three risk factors upon being referred. They tend to have trouble forming positive relationships with peers, express anger and impulsiveness in aggressive and anti-social ways, engage in delinquent behaviour and substance use, believe that aggression and violence is normal and have more knowledge of gangs than other youth in the community. YAP youth are also less likely to share information with their parent(s) or caregiver(s) as indicated by their responses on the YAP questionnaires. This speaks to the importance of the YAP addressing conflicted relationships between youth and their families.

What are the benefits of the YAP?

Positive Outcomes for YAP youth Youth who successfully graduated from the YAP showed an increase in school attachment, role models, and resilience, as well as a reduction in anti-social behaviour.

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“Like [people in the community] used to call me and my friends trouble people. The troublers, or something. And now they‘re like... you‘re not in trouble no more for stuff...” – Youth

The Youth Advocate Workers The YAP youth, YAWs, community and executive committee members all spoke about the effectiveness of the YAP and more specifically, the YAWs role in supporting the youth and their families. Coming from the same communities, the YAWs have the first-hand experience and “street smarts” required to build rapport and trust with youth and their families. As well, the YAWs have a strong presence in the communities, especially in the schools, where they are available and accessible to youth when needed. Collaboration and the Wraparound Approach The YAWs have established formal partnerships in the broader community with 25 different non-profit, private, and government organizations to support the program and its participants. These partners also become part of the Youth Support Teams by representing their organization in case conferences, facilitating mentoring, providing discounts/free passes for activities and providing services to youth as well as their families. Additionally, interventions and advocacy are provided for the family, as well as the youth. Parents, siblings and even friends of the youth are in frequent contact with the YAWs. Many parents indicated that they viewed the YAW as a resource for the youth, as well as themselves. Cost-effectiveness The YAP is a cost-effective crime prevention initiative. Costs associated with the YAP are approximately one fifth of those associated with incarcerating a youth offender.

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What are the challenges of the YAP?

The greatest challenge facing the YAP is the risk of “worker burnout”. Youth and families build a strong dependency on the YAWs. While the success of the YAP is reliant on this trust and attachment, it also places high demands on the YAWs to be available and accessible to youth and their families as needed. This can lead to high levels of on-the-job stress for the YAWs.

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RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE • DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

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What are people saying about YAP?

“Getting the cooperation of the agencies is another issue - but if you don‘t have the trust of the family and the child, that immediate community…you don‘t have a client...and that‘s where, street smarts and empathy and commitment and being from the community. Then it is having a graduate degree, and coming in… cold...and...maybe not having the same culture as the community and...a certain awkwardness on both parts.” (Executive Committee member) “Um... learning to trust people again. [My youth] has gone through some things in his life that has caused a big trust thing for me with him being around other people. So, that was an obstacle for me, learning to trust somebody to be a part of his life again that I knew he could be safe around. And I am still working on it and it is going to take a long time for the thing that he did go through. But, I feel safe knowing that he is with [his YAW].” (Parent) “The most important thing [about YAP] is having a voice besides my own. Because my own is worth nothing.” (Parent)

What youth are saying about the YAP?

“They [the YAP] got me out of trouble and helped me to decide my friends better.” (Youth) “Instead of me going like, you know, smashing peoples’ windows, we used to go rock climbing. It got in my head that yeah, this is actually a better thing to do then go, doing other stuff. So we used to do all kinds of activities together, like you know, go to the movies, play golf…” (Youth) “[My friend] comes with me a couple times and we just like talk about stuff and [my YAW] asks us what we did on the weekend and gives us suggestions and tells us basically that wasn‘t the smartest of choices maybe next time you should make this choice. It‘s kind of better when he talks to my friends too because when they do something I probably will be with them and if they decide not to do this thing then I might end up getting myself out of not doing it either...” (Youth) “I got to learn how to go out and like meet new people and make new friends….and so it helped me go out and make more friends around the community.” - Youth

“It made me think and say yeah, I have to go because right now I would probably kicked out of school and not doing anything because I wasn‘t on the best track. Now I am on a better one because [my YAW] talked to me...I don‘t even do that many drugs anymore that much. I don‘t even drink that much anymore, he just convinced me that it is not a good lifestyle…” (Youth) “…I’m actually really happy about the program right now. I’m saying like any kids, any other kids out there right now they should go in the program. ‘Cause right now those kids don’t know what they’re doing right now and they get into trouble all the time. So they might as well make something for the future so they can help themselves.” (Youth)

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“It [the YAP] made me aware of like what happens actually, like out in the real world, what gangs do and how they work type thing and they try to keep me out of them.” - Youth

Youth recommendations for a gang prevention program

Youth who had exited the YAP had a few suggestion for service providers when asked how they would design a gang prevention program: “Probably the same thing as the Youth Advocate Program… when I was in it, like it actually helped people a lot and it helped me a lot too. So I don’t know that there’s any other ways to help people like that.”(Youth) “You get a bunch of people who’ve been there, been in gangs and…just did a complete 360 on their life, maybe people would listen to them because I know I would take someone that’s been there, done that and has the scars to prove it than some guy in a suit telling me.” (Youth) “There would definitely not be no, no age limit.” (Youth)

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For more details about the Youth Advocate Program or for the evaluation report, contact: Youth Advocate Program Bloomfield Centre 2786 Agricola St. Halifax, Nova Scotia 1-902-490-4309 [email protected]

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RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE • DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

School of Social Work, Dalhousie University 6420 Coburg Road PO Box 15000 Halifax, NS B3H 4R2 Tel: 902 494 3050 Fax: 902 494 7728 [email protected] www.resilienceresearch.org

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