Young people at risk of becoming disconnected from training and job opportunities are being targeted by a new state-funded program in some of the state’s most vulnerable regions.
Successful Transitions will replace the federally funded Youth Connections, which was cancelled last year.
The State Government has allocated $600,000 towards the program over the next 12 months, aiming to target those isolated from education and the workforce.
“We work to identify what a young person wants to achieve and what their barriers are,” said Heather Eglinton, manager of youth services at Uniting Care Wesley Country SA, one of five service providers delivering the scheme.
“We help them make the changes they want to make and because we offer a wide range of services here at Uniting Care, we are able to draw on our other sectors and also our experiences within those sectors, to help in this program.”
It will target young people in northern and southern Adelaide as well as the Yorke Peninsula, mid-north and far-north regions of SA.
Eglinton said that her organisation had worked with more than 200 young people each year over five years with Youth Connections. By contrast, each Successful Transitions provider will target 30 cases over the next 12 months, equating to 150 across the state.
However, Eglinton believes the program is still a worthwhile venture.
“Even though we will not be reaching the same numbers as previous years, I do see it as a valuable initiative from the State Government because it nevertheless gives us the ability to work with a proportion of young people,” she said.
Youth Minister Zoe Bettison said the program would work with people aged 17-24 through one-on-one mentoring to “fill a gap that was left from the withdrawal of the Youth Connections program”.
“There are some young people who transition quite easily from school to the workforce but others have more issues,” she said.
“We aim to targets kids who needed more structured help in transitioning.
“When people have finished year 12, we want them to continue to flourish in the community by being employed and by having a role.”
Bettison said the introduction of Successful Transitions had spurred the Commonwealth to consider re-allocating funds towards a nationwide program next year.
