Component: youth initiatives

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)

Purpose of program

The purpose of the Youth Outreach Worker (YOW) Program is to help at-risk youth and high-risk youth and their families better navigate and connect with services and pro-social opportunities in their communities to improve youth outcomes.

Service objectives

The YOW Program is a prevention and intervention program that focuses on at-risk and high-risk youth who live in an identified priority community and/or belong to a distinct priority population (e.g., Indigenous, visible minority, 2SLGBTQQIA+). These youth may experience increased barriers in accessing the opportunities that can help them to develop their capacity to make healthy life choices and achieve their goals.

Service description

Services provided

YOW and Enhanced Youth Outreach Worker (EYOW) services will be

  • Reflective of, and responsive to, individual, family and community strengths and needs
  • Accountable to the individual, family and community
  • Responsive to the social, linguistic and cultural diversity of families and communities; and
  • Staffed by individuals with the appropriate range of skills and abilities necessary to respond effectively to the needs of youth and their families

YOWs and EYOWs also support families and caregivers. They help build the capacity of the adults in the youth participant’s life to support the participating youth to take action and achieve goals. Youth and family members who interact with YOWs/EYOWs are considered “participants” in the YOW program. A family member may be counted as a participant where the first significant one-to-one interaction is with the family member rather than a youth.

Youth outreach workers

Based on a positive youth development model, YOWs build relationships with youth and their families to

  1. Help youth and their families to identify and articulate their needs
  2. Use an evidence-based process to support youth to make positive changes in their lives
  3. Raise awareness of, and facilitate access to, locally available prevention and intervention resources through information-sharing and referrals that respond to individual needs and risk factors and reinforce strengths; and
  4. Foster communication and linkages among community agencies/organizations (e.g. health care providers, employment services, schools) to improve access and reduce barriers to services and supports

The program is oriented to empowering youth and their families to take action on their own behalf. YOWs act as mentors to youth and advocate on their behalf to improve access to services. They do not offer clinical or counselling services and are expected to refer youth to appropriate resources and services in the community and/or engage the support of an EYOWs (in communities where EYOW are located).

Enhanced youth outreach workers

EYOWs share the same objectives and adhere to the same service delivery model as a YOW but have increased training and capacity to serve high-risk youth requiring intensive intervention and support. EYOWs may provide youth participants with interim/short-term therapeutic counselling and support.

Youth may engage an EYOW independently or may be referred by a YOW or community agency.

EYOWs

  • Provide interim, short-term counselling and support services to help a youth participant, aligned with the YOW Program’s positive youth development model
  • Support youth to develop and enhance their identity, culture and sense of belonging to their community as a protective factor, as appropriate, including by using culturally-specific approaches to meet this expectation; and
  • Refer youth to appropriate counselling, resources and supports in the community

EYOWs serve as a clinical “bridge” in situations where a youth is in crisis and services are not immediately available or a youth requires support in accessing further community services.

With training acquired through a Bachelor or Master of Social Work and relevant experience, EYOWs may engage youth participants for longer periods and more intensively than a YOW.

Target population

The Program’s target population is at-risk and high-risk youth 12-21 YOWs and EYOWs may use their discretion to serve at-risk and high-risk youth ages 6 to 11, and up to the age of 25. Youth served by the YOW Program are often disconnected from mainstream services/hard to reach and serve and have multiple risk factors and limited protective factors.

YOWs target at-risk youth who

  • Face multiple barriers to success and/or are disengaged from their communities (e.g. lack of school engagement or not in education, employment or training; at risk of, or have been, in conflict with the law, etc.); and
  • Are in an identified priority community and/or belong to a distinct priority population approved by the ministry’s Regional Office

EYOWs specifically target high-risk youth who require intensive intervention and support. This includes youth who

  • May experience challenges related to mental health, addictions, trauma, relationship violence, human/sex trafficking and/or may be engaged in criminal activity; and
  • Have multiple risk factors, limited protective factors and have been engaged in specific incidents (g. fight at school, sibling in conflict with the law) that further increase their risks.

YOWs and EYOWs are expected to have in-depth knowledge about youth populations and the communities that they serve (e.g. local resources available).

Black Youth Action Plan

The Black Youth Action Plan (BYAP) works toward eliminating systemic, race-based disparities by increasing opportunities for Black children, youth and families across the province. Black Youth Action Plan services and supports include

  • culturally focused parenting initiatives and mentorship programs
  • supporting young people’s wellness with programming that takes preventative measures
  • supporting access to higher education and skills development
  • investing in community outreach and promoting anti-violence
  • communities working collectively to build capacity and collaborate for systemic change

Where need has been identified, some agencies are designated to deliver the Youth Outreach Worker Program as part of BYAP.

Outreach

YOWs and EYOWs engage in planned, coordinated and responsive outreach strategies and activities that are intended to identify, capture the attention and interest of, and foster involvement of, youth and their families for specific purposes, including

  • Eliciting, receiving and sharing information about the youth’s interests, concerns and needs in accordance with the Stages of Change model
  • Providing information and referrals regarding relevant programs, services and opportunities
  • Guiding/mentoring and facilitating access to programs, services and opportunities that may be of assistance or responsive to articulated needs or requests; and
  • Enabling positive civic participation in their neighbourhood/community
  • Outreach is intended to strengthen protective factors such as school engagement; peer-group associations; community attachment; positive adult relationships; and access to services and It is also intended to reduce risk factors, such as marginalization; lack of school engagement; anti-social peer group associations; low community attachment; lack of positive relationships with supportive adults; and lack of services and supports for youth

Outreach strategies may include but are not limited to

  • YOW/EYOW attendance/participation in community events making contacts and building trust with youth and their YOWs/EYOWs may also organize events, attend group activities organized by others and conduct such activities themselves to build relationships with youth
  • YOWs/EYOWs may identify and engage youth by going to places where youth congregate (g. public housing, youth drop-in centres, shopping malls, parks, schools) and receiving referrals from others such as school personnel and service providers (e.g. Children’s Aid Societies, probation officers, police, youth shelter workers)
  • Activities undertaken by YOWs/EYOWs are intended to be primarily individual person-to-person interactions, based on youth-identified needs. These activities occur in community, online (e.g. email, social media), by telephone or in neighbourhood locations or It is recognized that YOWs/EYOWs need to build relationships with youth for them to make progress toward attaining positive outcomes. This may involve several interactions over a period of time and may be facilitated by regular interactions with youth in group/activity settings
  • YOW/EYOW activities must be balanced so that conducting group activities with youth, organizing events, program promotion, community development and neighbourhood/community capacity-building activities do not predominate over one-to-one interactions with youth

Building neighbourhood and community capacity

The activities of the YOW/EYOW are flexible and responsive but should be planned and delivered within a larger neighbourhood and/or community service context and, if available, a strategy for service and neighbourhood improvement.

The agencies provide the structure within which YOWs’/EYOWs’ planned activities are delivered and contribute to the larger strategy of enhancing the capacity of neighbourhood services to engage and serve youth through better service coordination and/or integration/partnerships that transcend service sectors (e.g. health, social services, education, etc.).

YOWs may contribute to neighbourhood and community capacity by participating in community planning networks or committees. Neighbourhood services and infrastructure are enhanced and improved by the information shared by the YOWs at neighbourhood/community planning tables.

EYOWs also engage in activities to build neighbourhood and community capacity, but to a lesser extent than YOWs. EYOWs focus their efforts on providing intensive, one-on-one supports to high-risk youth and their families.

Program goals

The YOW Program seeks to improve outcomes for Ontario’s at-risk and high-risk youth.

Objective #1: Promote youth and family engagement in their communities.

Desired outcomes

  • Youth participants are engaged in their communities; and
  • Youth participants have families and/or caring adults equipped to help them thrive

Objective #2: Facilitate better access for youth to services and pro-social opportunities.

Desired outcomes

  • Youth participants know about and easily navigate resources in their communities; and
  • Youth participants make choices that support healthy and safe development

Progress may be measured through Stages of Change framework. There are 5 stages

  1. Pre-Contemplation – before you’re ready to make a change
  2. Contemplation – considering the pros and cons
  3. Preparation – getting ready to make a change
  4. Action – making the actual change
  5. Maintenance – converting the change into a positive

Ministry expectations for a lead agency

The Lead Agency (service agreement holder with the ministry) is expected to

  • provide for effective delivery of YOW/EYOW programming; and
  • establish and build both informal and formal inter-agency linkages and/or partnerships to strengthen/enhance neighbourhood/community service infrastructure

The Lead Agency undertakes to provide quantitative and/or qualitative data (including Identity- based Data) requested by the ministry relating to service performance measurement, and, as requested, participate in program and service evaluation initiatives established by the ministry.

A Lead Agency is deemed responsible for the following activities

  • Overall YOW Program administration and delivery, including agreed upon program deliverables
  • Financial and service performance reporting, including submission of required and requested reports within established time frames
  • Employing and/or purchasing the services through Partner Agencies for the agreed number of full-time equivalent (FTE) YOWs/EYOWs positions
    • Providing or ensuring supervision of YOWs/EYOW The Lead Agency may assign a portion of one FTE position to provide team leadership/guidance and coordination of other YOWs/EYOWs. In instances where YOWs/EYOWs are employed through Partner Agencies, the expectation is that the day-to-day supervision of the YOWs/EYOWs is provided by the Partner Agency
    • Providing or ensuring training of YOWs/EYOWs and, if appropriate, program volunteers, including training relating to the Stages of Change model and YOW/EYOW personal and community participant/contact safety
    • Synthesizing information gathered by YOWs/EYOWs and sharing it with Partner Agencies and within community planning processes, as appropriate
    • Developing policies and procedures for protecting the privacy of personal information contained in the Outreach Record (OR) with respect to the collection, use, disclosure and access to such information contained in records within the The policies and procedures that are developed by the Lead Agency shall comply with Part 6 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) when the information and records relate to young persons as defined by the YCJA, the confidentiality provisions relating to children who are the subject of a child welfare proceeding under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA), and the privacy provisions under Part X of the CYFSA
    • Establishing and documenting (g. via memoranda of agreement) the roles and responsibilities of the Lead and Partner Agencies (i.e. division of labour and respective accountability, etc.), and processes and procedures to address
      • Amendment, withdrawal or termination of the partnership; and
      • Dispute resolution for partners

Governance, accountability and service system requirements

The agency will deliver the programs and services in accordance with the requirements as outlined in

  • the Youth Outreach Worker Program – Program guidelines
  • any Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) that have been developed with identified service delivery partners for the delivery of services

Reporting requirements

The following service data will collected during the fiscal/reporting year (from April 1 to March 31) and reported on in the Final Stage/Report.

Service Data Name Definition

# of Individuals Served: YOW

Unique, or unduplicated, count of all individuals who received service in the YOW Program in the reporting period.

# of FTE Youth Outreach Workers: YOWP

The total number of full-time equivalent YOWP funded Youth Outreach Workers. Do not include unfilled vacancies if they spanned through the entire reporting period.

# of FTE Enhanced Youth Outreach Workers: YOWP

The total number of full-time equivalent YOWP funded Enhanced Youth Outreach Workers. Do not include unfilled vacancies if they spanned through the entire reporting period.

# of Youth Participants: YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of new and ongoing individual youth participants who received service in YOW Program during the reporting period.

# of Family Participants - YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of new and ongoing individual family participants during the reporting period. Family participant means an adult who is directly involved with a youth (e.g., a parent/guardian, caregiver, sibling, relative, partner) who has had one or more interactions with a Youth Outreach Worker/Enhanced Youth Outreach Worker during the reporting period.

# of High-Risk Youth - Intensive Support Service - YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of new and ongoing individual high-risk youth participants during the reporting period who receive Intensive Support Services from an Enhanced Youth Outreach Worker. The Intensive Support Services are “face-to-face” and one-on-one.

# of Youth: Increased # Protective Factors: YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of all individual youth participants whose number of protective factors increased during the fiscal year. See list of protective factors above in Outreach section.

# of Youth: Decreased # Risk Factors: YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of all individual youth participants whose number of risk factors decreased during the fiscal year. Risk and Protective Factors are those identified in the Stages of Change model (see Outreach section above). A factor can pose a risk or be protective depending on whether it is negative or positive.

# of Youth: Made Progress at Least One Stage of

Change: YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of individual youth participants who moved up at least one level in the Stages of Change at any point during the fiscal year.

# of Youth: Maintained Change (Level 5): YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of individual youth participants who achieved level 5 in the Stages of Change at any point during the fiscal year.

# of Youth: Action for Change (Level 4): YOWP

Unique, or unduplicated count of individual youth participants who achieved level 4 in the Stages of Change at any point during the fiscal year.

# of Children: 6- 11: YOWP

The total number of individual child participants who are 6 to 11 years of age during the fiscal year. This category is based on child’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: 12-17: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants who are 12 to 17 years of age during the fiscal year. This category is based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: 18-24yrs: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants who are 18 to 24 years of age during the fiscal year. This category is based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: 25-29: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants who are 25 to 29 years of age during the fiscal year. This category is based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Woman/ Girl: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify a woman/girl. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Man/Boy: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as a man/boy. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Other Gender: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who do not identify as man/boy or a woman/girl. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: First Nations: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as First Nations. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Métis: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as Métis. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Urban Indigenous:

YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as Urban Indigenous. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Inuit: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as Inuit. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Black: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as Black (e.g., African, Afro-Caribbean, African-Canadian descent). Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# Youth: Latinx: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as Latin American or Hispanic descent. Data collection should allow respondents to check all that apply and be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: LGBTQ: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA+. This category is based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: One or More Disabilities: YOWP

The total number of individual youth participants during the fiscal year who identify as a person with one or more disabilities and may include: Seeing, Hearing, Mobility, Learning, Pain, Memory, Developmental, Mental/Psychological, Drug or alcohol dependence, Flexibility, Dexterity, Other.

# of Youth: Canadian by naturalization:

YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who are Canadian by naturalization. Data collection should be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

# of Youth: Do Not Hold Canadian

Citizenship: YOWP

The number of all individual youth participants during the fiscal year who do not hold Canadian citizenship. Data collection should be based on a youth’s voluntary self-identification.

Youth Outreach Worker Program: Ministry-funded Agency Expenditures

Total ministry-funded expenses for the service agency to administer and/or deliver this program in the reporting year (cumulative).