Case Studies: Social Services

Reintegration of troubled youth

• Case Studies: Social Services
• Making student loans work
• Reintegration of troubled youth
• An inter-agency response to family violence
• Systemic Approaches to Child Safety
• A strategy for developing strong families

re-integration of troubled youth - Auckland Bridging Programme

ISSUE
The Auckland Bridging Programme provides a continuum of care services to young people between the ages of 11 and 17, who are in the care of CYFs and have been diagnosed with severe conduct disorder. The overarching aim of the program is to enable young people to return to their family or whanau, able to manage their interactions with the world in ways which do no harm to others or themselves.

Youth Horizons believed that the programme was delivering good results, but contained some obstacles to efficiency and they wished to be able to enter into the new contract period confident of their ability to deliver the services promised.

This research examined the systems components of the programme: it looked primarily at the ease of flow of young people through the system, and at those
elements within the system that were blocking that flow.

SOLUTION
Synergia undertook a series of evaluative interviews and developed systems and subsystems maps for analysis with managers. These led to redefinitions of some roles and some subsystems, in particular: strengthening the intake system, by which young people were recommended, accepted and inducted; increasing the confidence and ability of CYF referrers to make helpful decisions; developing the role of programme coordinator and strengthening the clinical capacity.

OUTCOME
The smooth flow of young people into Youth Horizons is still subject to a number of external vicissitudes, but the intake processes run more smoothly, capability and capacity have improved in a number of areas. In some respects older habits reasserted themselves and are now being addressed.