Tamworth Regional Council Youth Centre

The “Youthie” is a drop-in youth centre servicing young people aged 12 - 18 years of age in the Tamworth area. The Youthie is operated by the Tamworth Regional Council and offers a variety of recreational, sports, technology, arts and music based activities. During the school holidays a comprehensive program of activities are organised that young people can become involved with. The “Youthie” is also the meeting place for the Tamworth Youth Advisory, is the hub of annual Youthweek activities in the Tamworth region, and presents regular youth entertainment events in the form of disco’s and live bands. All general activities are free of charge…

Coledale Youth Space

The full report can be downloaded here

DISCLAIMER

This report is prepared in good faith on the basis of information provided by the Youth Opportunities Working Group members, statistics and information in the public domain and information obtained through consultations performed by the consultants. Full responsibility for adoption or implementation of any or all of the advice in this report rests with the user of the report. Ngay Dhinawan Pty Ltd does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for the rejection of, or failure to act upon, or adoption, or implementation of, this report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On behalf of the Youth Opportunities Working Group, we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Tamworth Regional Council, who funded this project. We would also like to express our gratitude for the generous support of the Youth Opportunities Working Group members, and the Coledale community members who have assisted in undertaking the detailed consultations outlined in this report. We would like to make special mention Marc Sutherland who co-facilitated community and agency consultation sessions and Trevor French, Priscilla Dennis, Donna Creighton and Brad Sutherland who door-knocked to gauge and record community support for the project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REPORT
Disclaimer ……………………………………………………………………………………………………......	ii
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………….......	iii
Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………………….......	1
Overview …………………………………………………………………………………………………….......	4
Methodology …………………………………………………………….………………………………….....	5
Community Consultation Outcomes ……………………….…………………………………….....	6
Agency Consultation Outcomes …………………………………………………………………….....	8
Social Growth and Early Intervention ………………………………………………………..........	8
Values-based Participation ………………………………………………………………………………..	9
Potential Governance Models ……………………………………………………………………........	10
Performance Evaluation and Monitoring …………………………………………………………..	12
Economic Argument ……………………………………………………………………………………......	12
Next Steps..............................................................................................................	13
Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………………………......	14
Conclusion..............................................................................................................	15
Bibliography...........................................................................................................	17

APPENDICES
1. Coledale Youth Space Concept Paper Brief ……………………………………………………	18
2. Summary of responses to consultation questions ………………………………………….	22
3. Summary of desired activities ……………………………………………………………………….	24
4. Coledale Statistical Profile ……………………………………………………………………………..	25
5. Coledale Crime Statistics ……………………………………………………………………………….	28
6. University of New England Evaluation …………………………………………………………..	34
7. Coledale Youth Space Petition ……………………………………………………………………….	45

Executive Summary

In 2009, Tamworth Regional Council joined with a range of partner organisations as the Youth Opportunities Working Group (YOWG), to develop a detailed concept for a proposed Youth Space facility in Coledale with the aim of attracting funding and support from government and non-government agencies. Partner agencies in the YOWG include Tamworth Regional Council, the Youthie, the Coledale Youth Centre, Gomeroi Dance Company, Joblink Plus, Aboriginal Affairs NSW, Careers Network, Housing NSW and the Tamworth Indigenous Coordination Centre. The formation of the YOWG was in response to issues identified in the Coledale Action Team’s Strategic Plan and an identified need for a long term strategy for youth development in Coledale.

This report describes the outcomes of the first phase of consultations. Consultations were conducted over a two year period and included up to 1000 face-to-face interactions with community members, representing one third of the Coledale population. A further 60 representatives from government and non-government agencies were consulted. The range of consultation methods included:-

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) surveys with 129 Coledale residents;
Kids in Action surveys with 158 young people from Coledale;
A focus group with 50 Coledale young people;
A community-wide workshop with 30 local residents and Aboriginal Elders;
Eight ‘Kitchen Table’ consultations with 50 Coledale residents in their homes and at the Coledale Community Centre;
Two ‘World Café’ style consultations with 60 local government and non-government agencies and potential stakeholders; and
A community petition of support with over 500 signatures

Support from the community for the Coledale Youth Space concept was clearly demonstrated through each consultation method. The community expressed a real desire for positive opportunities for young people and the chance tosupport and empower young people to make positive and lasting changes to their lives.

Contributions from government and non-government agencies identified the need to better align their programs and interventions for young people, and to address gaps in service delivery. Organisations supported the concept of a youth facility where they can work collaboratively to maximise resources and achieve shared service delivery outcomes for young people. Government agencies also identified the need for the effective referral and integration of young people into mainstream programs, ensuring a transition pathway.

A common theme across all consultations was the clear support for a range of social growth and early intervention programs including:-

Youth wellbeing and development
Sport, leisure and culture
Vocational, educational and employment pathways

Coledale’s demographic make up includes relatively more young people with 1,091 (35.6%) aged under 18 years, compared to only 26.4% of the Tamworth LGA population as a whole. These statistics combined with expected future growth indicate that the demand for youth programs will increase in the coming years.

There is a valid economic argument for an early investment in young people before they potentially come into contact with the justice and welfare systems, with crime currently costing the Coledale community more than $320,000 annually, and under-employment and welfare dependence costing in excess of $13 million. Additionally, there is good evidence for high returns on early investment in disadvantaged communities.

The University of New England (UNE) was engaged to provide a detailed evaluation of the activities of the YOWG over a 12 month period. The UNE evaluation indicates that the YOWG has been effective, and is to be commended for the process it has undertaken.

Recommendations

Based on an in-depth review of the consultations outcomes, the recommendations below are considered to be the critical next steps for the further development of the Youth Space Concept.

1. Establishment of Mechanisms to Provide for Ongoing Youth Involvement:Consultations have strongly identified that the youth of Coledale and Tamworth want a voice in our community. It is recommended that a number of mechanisms through which young people can be actively involved in design and planning for Tamworth youth initiatives be established.

3. Investment by the Tamworth Place Team:The Tamworth Place Team, coordinated through Department of Premier and Cabinet, is leading the whole-of-government strategy for Coledale and is well placed to provide further funding for the scoping of the next stages of the Youth Space Concept.

4. Land identification, concept planning and architectural planning:The identification of an appropriate location, the development of a detailed concept plan and some initial architectural drawings will be important milestones. These should incorporate the aspirations of the community and the practical requirements of agencies who will deliver services from the Youth Space facility.

5. Partnerships with the corporate sector and local business community: Given the economic argument for investment in Coledale and the return value of investment to the local economy, a business proposal should be developed and taken to local business partners and larger industry partners for consideration.

6. Identification of long-term funding partnerships and opportunities and development of a governance model: An ongoing activity of the YOWG should be the engagement of service delivery partners who will share the cost of running the Youth Space long-term and the identification of potential short-term and recurrent funding partners. Another key activity will be the development of a governance model for the Youth Space.

Through the implementation of the consultation process for the Youth Space, the YOWG has achieved a number of significant improvements in the areas of community engagement, closing of service gaps, improved service delivery and improved service coordination.

Overview

This report sets out the outcomes of two years of consultation with the Coledale community. Community consultation began in early 2009 in response to a need, identified through the Coledale Action Team, to develop a long-term strategy for youth development in Coledale. Up to that time, responses to youth development needs had been short-term and discrete, and it was felt that there would be no long-term change to the intergenerational disadvantage being faced by young people in the Coledale area unless a long-term approach was taken.

Initial survey work with residents and young people asked them to identify the assets in the community, their own skills and interests and ways in which they thought gains in community capital and connectedness could be made. A two-pronged approach was taken including undertaking an Assets Based Community Development (ABCD) survey. This involved door-knocking residents, and conducting surveys with young people from Coledale in partnership with the local schools. The results of these initial surveys pointed strongly to the lack of a youth friendly space in Coledale, and the strong need for positive activities for young people that supported the long-term goals of the community.

On this basis, a range of local organisations formed the Youth Opportunities Working Group (YOWG)in May 2009. Partner agencies included the Tamworth Regional Council, the Youthie, the Coledale Youth Centre, the Gomeroi Dance Company, Joblink Plus, Aboriginal Affairs NSW, Careers Network, Housing NSW and the Indigenous Co-ordination Centre. Additional members have since joined the committee representing the University of New England, Juvenile Justice, Department of Education and Training, NSW Ministry of Transport and residents of the Coledale community.

As a group, the YOWG set out to develop a concept paper for a proposed Coledale Youth Space facility and to undertake further consultation. It was decided that the evaluation model used throughout the project would be a Results-Based Accountability Model, and in May 2010, the University of New England’s Social Work Department were engaged. UNE reviewed the processes employed by the committee to ensure that best-practice methods were being followed.

The University of New England has since provided a report to the YOWG which has endorsed the process used and found no gaps in the model of consultation or the process used by the committee for setting, communicating and achieving its objectives.

Figure 1: Timeline

The Coledale Action Team identifies a need to develop a long-term youth development strategy for Coledale	November 2008
Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) surveys commenced door-to-door	March 2009
Kids in Action Youth Surveys completed with young people who live in Coledale	March 2009
Youth Opportunities Working Group (YOWG) formed	May 2009
YOWG visit to Redcliffe Youth Space	June 2009
Focus group held with 50 Coledale Youth through Midnight Basketball workshops	November 2009
Kitchen Table Consultations with Coledale residents	March – May 2010
Agency Consultation Workshops	May - June 2010
UNE Evaluation of Consultation Process finalised	June 2010
Coledale Community Consultation Workshop	July 2010
Presentation of Consultation Report	October 2010

Methodology

Consultations were conducted over a two year period and included up to 1000 face-to-face interactions with community members, representing one third of the Coledale population. A further 60 representatives from government and non-government agencies were consulted. The range of consultation methods included:-

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) surveys with 129 Coledale residents;
Kids in Action surveys with 158 young people from Coledale;
A focus group with 50 Coledale young people;
A community-wide workshop with 30 local residents and Aboriginal Elders;
Eight ‘Kitchen Table’ consultations with 50 Coledale residents in their homes and at the Coledale Community Centre;
Two ‘World Café’ style consultations with 60 local government and non-government agencies and potential stakeholders;
A community petition of support with over 500 signatures

Consultations were completed in part by members of the committee who put time aside to undertake door-to-door surveys and youth surveys and to conduct the kitchen table consultations in Coledale residents’ homes. Joe Craigie, a local Aboriginal consultant and young Coledale resident Marc Sutherland were engaged to run three consultation workshops which included the two agency workshops and one Coledale community workshop.

A small team of Coledale residents led by the Coledale Youth Worker undertook the most recent doorknock to get supportive community members to sign a petition of support.

A Coledale Youth Space concept paper was drafted by the committee to set a vision, mission, philosophy, set of objectives and provide example activities and programs that the Youth Space might incorporate. The concept paper, finalised in February 2010 was distributed with invitations to the agency consultation workshops and was used to guide consultation discussions with community organisations (A copy is attached as Appendix 1).

A set of standard questions were also developed, adapted slightly for different stakeholder groups, which have been used to guide the consultation discussions with the youth focus group, kitchen table consultations, and community and agency consultation workshops.

These questions included;

What does the term Youth Space mean to you?
Is it a good idea and why/why not?
What things would happen there?
What would the Space look like?
What will be the critical success factors / barriers?

In the community consultation workshop, community members were also asked how respect for the Youth Space could be built in the community, what community values they would like to see strengthened and if they would like to be involved in any way.

Community Consultation Outcomes

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Survey

An Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) survey was developed by Tamworth Regional Council and Housing NSW. The aim of the survey was to obtain information on the assets in the Coledale Community including the strengths and interests of residents from the area.

The survey included demographic information, and asked residents to identify their strengths and abilities and whether or not they are willing to share these skills with the wider Coledale community.

The survey identified their interests and skills in a range of areas such as building, gardening, parenting, caring for others, food handling skills, administration experience, ability to operate equipment, as well as their interests in art, craft and music or sport.

A number of youth were surveyed who expressed an interest in the availability of support programs and recreational activities in Coledale.

Kids in Action Youth Surveys

Youth Surveys were conducted in partnership with Peel High, Tamworth High, Hillvue Public School and Tamworth South Public School and were limited to students who resided in Coledale. Respondents to the Youth Survey included 158 young people ageing in range from 8 to 20 with two thirds of respondents being between 9 and 13. 74.8% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Of the activities currently on offer in Coledale, young people most commonly said that they had tried art classes (29.6%), OzTag (28.3%), the Coledale Institute of Sport (27%), computer and internet access at the Coledale Youth Centre (25.8%) and Midnight Basketball (25.2%). Existing services that young people identified as desirable were Coledale Youth Centre (55.3%), Police (52.8%), buses and public transport (39%), the homework centre (32.7%), the breakfast club (30.8%) and the soup kitchen (30.2%).

Potential new activities that young people identified as desirable were sports (69.8%), discos (62.3%), cooking classes (61%), movie nights (57.9%), trips away (55.3%), basketball (54.1%), camping (55.3%), handball (50.3%) and Oztag (50.3%). Potential new services that young people identified as desirable were a swimming pool (75.5%), sporting centre (74.2%), youth centre (62.3%) and a skate park (51.6%). Unlisted options that the young people proposed were shops (20.1%) and a variety of sport and recreation options.

Coledale Youth Space consultations with community

Community consultations included the youth focus group run with 50 young people attending Midnight Basketball on 28 November 2009, eight kitchen table consultations run in resident’s homes and capturing 50 community members, and a consultation workshop with 28 members of the Coledale community, including young people and Elders, held on 14 July 2010.

Across these consultations, community members believed that the Youth Space should be a safe place for young people to participate in a variety of recreational and personal development activities.

Young people emphasised that participation at the facility needed to be governed by rules that were consistently applied. Overall, the Youth Space was seen as a place where the community could come together.

Residents believed that the Youth Space would divert young people from getting into trouble because it would provide opportunities for them to engage in positive activities. Possible programs included a range of sport and recreation options, leadership, alternative education and training pathways, work experience and industry-based training, and support for young families. Young people emphasised that Elders should be involved in leadership roles in the Centre.

They wanted the facility to be something the community would be proud of – State of the Art, clean and environmentally friendly, with design aspects completed by community members (murals, landscaping, interior design and furnishings). They saw youth and community members taking a key role in running and managing the Centre, with an established organisation such as the Tamworth Regional Council supporting the day-to-day operations and overall governance structure.

A summary of both responses to prompt questions used during consultations and the most desired activities from youth and community stakeholders are attached as Appendices 2 and 3.

Agency Consultation Outcomes

Sixty representatives from government and non-government agencies attended two ‘world café’ style workshop consultations held at the Tamworth Community Centre on 31 May and 9 June 2010. Agency representatives were posed the same standard questions used in other community consultation methods, and there were a number of themes in common with community members that arose out of these consultations.

In common with community consultations, agencies identified a similar range of programs to cater to young people at different stages of engagement including a range of recreational and drop-in options, a range of personal support service needs, and a further set of personal development activities such as programs to strengthen young people’s connections to family and social networks, education, career pathways and develop leadership potential.

In addition, agencies identified the need to better align their programs and interventions for young people, and to address gaps in service delivery (Refer to Recommendations 1 and 2).

Organisations supported the concept of a youth facility where they can work collaboratively to maximise resources and achieve shared service delivery outcomes for young people. Government agencies also identified the need for the effective referral and integration of young people into mainstream programs, ensuring a transition pathway.

Agencies represented raised the lack of recurrent funding sources as a major barrier and identified the need to build recurrent funding into the business model for the Youth Space.

Social Growth and Early Intervention

The need for programs that provide opportunities for social growth and early intervention was a consistent theme across consultation methods and stakeholder groups. Discussion at consultations centred around the need to ensure that young people who are currently disadvantaged are provided the opportunity to reach their potential, and that in addition, programs should be aiming to invest early in young people and families to ameliorate factors contributing to disadvantage and risk of disadvantage.

In support of programs operating at the individual and family level, it was also recognised that programs needed to target the community more broadly to contribute to resilience through building opportunities for community connectedness, growth and wellbeing. A number of the suggested programs have been grouped below in further sub-categories:

Youth wellbeing and development

Health and wellbeing
Support groups (young parents, mental health, family violence)
Leadership development and mentoring
Self esteem, personal development and life skills
Relationships and social networks

Sport, leisure and culture

Drop-in Centre,
Pool tables, table tennis
Computer- and technology- based recreation
Arts, craft, dance and music
Sporting activities, and sport in the park
Aboriginal cultural programs

Vocational, educational and employment pathways

Homework Centre
Tutoring
Learner driver training
Reconnection to school and learning
Careers education and training pathways

Values-based participation

Youth placed great credence in having a “place of their own”, a “safe place” and a “place of pride”. In ensuring these values could be attained and maintained, an idea to establish participation rules based on adherence to a set of values-based principles was tested. It was proposed that young people would have to undertake a values-based induction to gain membership of the Youth Space and that breaking the rules would result in them temporarily losing their right to participate.

Young people from Coledale were strongly in support of this proposal and put forward many of their own ideas as to how this should operate. Young people proposed that the Youth Space should be alcohol, drug and smoke free, that there should be a strong code of conduct prominently displayed in a mural designed by young people, that the rules should be consistently and fairly enforced and that responsibility and respect were the two most important values.

Potential Governance Models

Community members strongly identified leadership, participation and partnerships as critical in development of an appropriate governance model. Consultation participants did not have strong views on the detail of the governance model but wanted to ensure that whatever governance and management model was chosen for Coledale Youth Space that it could deliver on the needs, programs and services identified as priorities and manage community partnerships for best-practice delivery.

Key stakeholders in the strategic direction and operations of the proposed Coledale Youth Space facility were identified as Coledale youth, Coledale community members, Tamworth Regional Council, and service delivery agencies running programs from the Youth Space facility.

The workshop participants promoted Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) as an appropriate organisation to take the lead role for the Centre. If accepting of the lead agency role, TRC would act with the endorsement, and on behalf of the community, and would own, manage and run the Coledale Youth Space in partnership with a proposed community committee that would be inclusive of youth, residents and user groups.It was thought that young people should play a key role in determining the vision and direction for the Youth Space.

While it is recognised that the governance model for the Youth Space requires more research and consultation (refer to Recommendation 6), one potential model which has been developed using the community’s comments as a basis is shown below.

Figure 2: Proposed Governance Model

Performance Evaluation and Monitoring

To date, the YOWG has placed a high value on evaluation to guide the committee’s activities throughout the concept development and consultation process. To this end staff from the University of New England’s Social Work department were engaged to independently measure and report on the process used by the YOWG. The evaluation team, led by Dr Bawa Kuyini, reported that the YOWG has been effective, that no gaps were found in the process utilised and that there is clarity of the goals and objectives.

The YOWG intends to continue evaluation throughout the project and a second stage to this evaluation is planned, should the project progress to concept implementation. The planned second stage would include the University of New England team working with the committee to develop an evaluation framework that mirrors the project’s progress and can be implemented in parallel to ensure best-practice throughout the development stages (Refer to Recommendation 3).

Economic Argument

There is a valid economic argument for an early investment in young people in disadvantaged communities before they potentially come into contact with the justice and welfare systems.

In 2006, SEIFA statistics put Coledale in the 1^st percentile band for relative disadvantage across Australia (in other words, 99% of the Australian population are relatively more advantaged). Moreover, research by the NSW Attorney General’s Department in 1997 confirmed that most forms of crime are higher in economically and socially disadvantaged areas, and that critical to long-term crime prevention is:-

the amelioration of poverty and unemployment;
enhancing the social supports available to those who face poverty and unemployment; and
capitalising on early intervention programs to improve the quality of parenting behaviour.

Incidence and cost of crime

Crime maps for the Tamworth Regional LGA compiled by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) in 2008 show that Coledale is a “hotspot” in Tamworth for domestic violence related assault incidences (50 in the hotspot zone in 2008), break and enter dwelling (69), steal from dwelling (29), malicious damage to property (197), as just an example across crime types.

The cost of the small selection of reported crime incidents in 2008 mentioned above when valued against Australian Institute of Criminology multipliers (Mayhew, 2009) is $348,000.

Moreover, a separate BOCSAR report dated 2009, indicates that the recurrent cost of keeping someone in prison in NSW is over $200 per day or over $73,000 annually.

Incidence and cost of poverty and unemployment

According to 2006 Census figures Coledale’s population comprised a low proportion of people of working age (30.04%) and a significant proportion who were not participating in the labour force (33.37%). 14.7% were employed full-time and 9.03% were employed part-time, and another 7.08% were unemployed and looking for part- or full-time work. In terms of average weekly individual income, 59.4% of Coledale’s working age population earned a low income (less than $400 per week and 70.1% of Coledale’s population earned an annual income of less than $23,937. 26.05% of households had no motor vehicles.

Welfare expenditure in Australia is growing every year and was $90.2 billion in 2005-2006 with an additional $28.9 billion spent on welfare services (AIHW, 2007). Additionally, the estimated average daily loss of Gross Domestic Profit, while the unemployment rate in Australia persists above full employment, is $95.5 million (Mitchell, 2010). When calculated per capita, the annual economic burden represented by underemployment and welfare dependence in Coledale’s adult population could be estimated to be over $13.5 million per year.

Coledale’s population includes relatively more young people with 1,091 (35.6%) aged under 18 years, compared to only 26.4% of the Tamworth LGA population as a whole. These youth statistics and expected growth show demand for youth programs and other supports are likely to increase in the coming years.

Return on investment

One 27-year US study showed that for every $1 invested in services to help families with young children, $4 was saved within three years on child protection, health, education and justice systems. By the time the children were adults, $7 had been saved for every $1 invested (cited by Justice Action, 2010).

Next steps

The next steps are proposed with implementation being contingent on the interest from potential partner agencies that arises out of the circulation of this report and subsequent discussions (Refer to Recommendations 4 - 6):

Development of mechanisms for ongoing youth engagement and input into the project
A service mapping exercise which identifies service delivery, partnerships and gaps in current service delivery
An analysis of available land and the relative appropriateness of available sites
A feasibility analysis based on the partners showing interest in the project and the level of support available
Location of a suitable site and development of detailed concept drawings including physical and environmental elements, requirements for purpose built aspects of the facility and building design fit with service delivery elements
Development of architectural plans
Funding acquisition and formalisation of local partnership anddevelopment of a governance model.

ommunity consultation and partnerships should be actively strengthened at each stage of project development to ensure the feeling of community ownership is maximised by the time the project is becoming a reality. Initiatives that provide immediate and ongoing tangible returns to the community throughout the planning process will be important in maintaining their engagement with the project concept. Increased agency involvement with various community entities and groups, and the careful timing of the establishment of community governance aspects such as youth and community representative mechanisms are examples of activities with potential immediate returns.

Recommendations

Based on an in-depth review of the consultations outcomes, the recommendations below are considered to be the critical next steps for the further development of the Youth Space Concept.

2. Service mapping and gap-analysis:A mapping exercise should be conducted that shows the services currently being delivered in Coledale, and accessed by Coledale residents. Service mapping will provide analysis of any gaps in services and opportunities for partnerships. The formal exercise will highlight both the gaps, and programs available within the breadth of all agencies to support youth to a greater extent than currently delivered. The service mapping exercise can be achieved in a relatively short time frame if there is commitment from all local agencies to provide details of their service delivery, partnerships with other agencies and community engagement with these services.

3. Investment by the Tamworth Place Team:The Tamworth Place Team, coordinated through Department of Premier and Cabinet, is leading the Whole-of-Government strategy for Coledale and is well-placed to provide further funding for the scoping of the next stages of the Youth Space Concept.

The planned next stages will include the service mapping analysis, negotiations with agencies on partnership arrangements and feasibility analysis, site location and detailed concept design, architectural design and ongoing consultation and partnership building with the community.

The Place Team currently supports the YOWG as a vital part of the holistic review of services into Coledale. The Place Team member’s funding commitment to the next stages of Coledale Youth Space would be a positive public relations opportunity for agencies to connect with the Coledale community on a project that is of high value to those residents.

4. Land identification, concept planning and architectural planning:Activities that will underpin the development of a detailed plan which can be considered by potential partners include the identification of an appropriate location, the development of a detailed concept plan and some initial architectural drawings, that incorporate the aspirations of the community and the practical requirements of agencies who will deliver services from the Youth Space.

These stages need to build on the community consultation and support already gained by continuing to actively involve youth and community members in each planning stage. This should maintain and further develop the feeling of community ownership in the project.

Conclusion

In 2009, Tamworth Regional Council joined with a range of partner organisations as the Youth Opportunities Working Group (YOWG), to develop a detailed concept for a proposed Youth Space facility in Coledale with the aim of attracting funding and support from government and non-government agencies. The formation of the YOWG and the development of the Youth Space concept were initiated in response to issues identified in the Coledale Action Team’s Strategic Plan and an identified need for a long term strategy for youth development in Coledale.

To date, the YOWG has achieved the following through its activities:

It has effectively engaged with the Coledale youth and community and other stakeholders resulting in a thorough consultation;
The consultation demonstrates strong community and youth support for the Coledale Youth Space Concept;
Action has taken place on many youth and community priorities already (See Appendix 3 for details). For example, sport in the park, movies in the park, cooking classes, computer access and driver training;
Improved links between service agencies have been achieved;
Service mapping is underway;
A way forward has been documented.

The consultation and community engagement phase has clearly demonstrated strong youth community support for the Coledale Youth Space Concept and a recommended way forward to realisation of the Concept is documented herein for consideration by stakeholders.

Bibliography

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2007). Welfare Expenditure Australia 2005-2006. Health and welfare expenditure series no. 31. Cat. no. HWE 38. Canberra: AIHW.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (2008). Local Government Area Crime Statistics – Tamworth Regional Council. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_lga_crimemaps, accessed 22 September 2010.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (2009). Prison Populations and Correctional Outlays: The Effect of Reducing Re-imprisonment. Crime and Justice Bulletin, No 138, December 2009. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/cjb138.pdf/$file/cjb138.pdf, accessed 22 September 2010.

Justice Action (2010). Beyond Bars: Are Prison’s Cost Effective? http://www.justiceaction.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=184&Itemid=30, accessed 26 August 2010.

Mayhew, P. (2009). Counting the Costs of Crime in Australia: Technical Report, Australian Institute of Criminology, http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/B/F/D/{BFD22E46-3E66-431A-B74D-F76661CCB103}tbp004.pdf, accessed 26 August 2010.

Mitchell, B. (2010). The Daily Losses from Unemployment. Centre for Full Employment and Equity, University of Newcastle. http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=7308, accessed 29 August 2010.

APPENDIX 1 – Coledale Youth Space Concept Brief

Coledale Youth Space Concept Brief

Mission

To invest in, support and empower young people to create opportunities which make positive and lasting changes to their lives.

Vision

Create a safe, culturally appropriate, youth friendly space and programs which strengthen young people, their relationships with peers, families and the broader community.

Key Principles

The Youth Space will:

The youth space will strengthen community values of respect, participation, leadership and others? (defined by the community)
Draw on local resources to act as a conduit for cultural change such as the Gomeroi Dance Group and local artists
Be an accessible space for young people that is safe and friendly where young people from different cultures can come together to meet and interact with each other
Be adequately resourced so that it is viable and sustainable
Foster ownership through a consultation and development process, which will enable the active and consistent participation, input and decision making of young people into the planning, design, construction, future programming activities and operations of the facility
Have the support and involvement of the broader community including parents, residents, local service providers, cultural groups, local business, council and government
Have collaboration and coordination through effective partnerships
Strengthen relationships with an emphasis on intergenerational exchange
Build the capacity of young people and the broader community through a strengths and leadership based approach
Provide pathways for integrating into the community

Outcomes:

A sense of community ownership of the Youth Space facility;
Empowerment of young people and re-engagement with communities and culture;
The engagement of young people into positive activities in their local community;
Active and consistent participation, input and decision making of young people in the planning, design, construction, future programming and operations of the Youth Space facility;
Young people involved in the construction and fit out of the Youth Space through a combination of employment and training programs, Work for the Dole and Volunteer Work with the contribution being recognised for the purposes of mutual obligation by Centrelink;
A Youth Committee formed that is representative of the local demographic and priority target groups;
A reference group established representative of the key stakeholders and project partners;
Support and involvement of the broader community including parents, residents, local service providers, cultural groups, local business, council, and government;
Strengthen relationship;
A reduction and prevention of crime through divergent activities that engage young people in positive ways; and
Assist in the reduction and prevention of crime through redirecting young people away from anti social behaviour and offending opportunities and into divergent activities that engage young people in positive ways.

Purpose

On the surface the purpose of the Youth Space is to provide a visible, accessible and desirable youth facility in Coledale that acts as a central contact point “a hub” for young people aged 8 to 25. A safe place where:

young people can hang out while having the opportunity to participate/engage in a wide range of constructive activities;
young people can access a range of services available to them.

Social Recovery and Early Intervention Programs

Ensure youth that use the facility and its programs complete a core values induction/moral code/accreditation.

1. Youth Friendly and Accessible Support

Health and wellbeing
Support groups (eg parenting, women)
Leadership Mentoring
Self esteem and life skills

2. Sport, Leisure and Culture

Drop in pool tables, table tennis
Arts, craft, dance
Music
Sport in the park
Relationships and connectedness

3. Employment and Education

Homework Centre
Tutoring
Driver learning
Links to learning
Youth connections
Careers Education

The Youth Space facility will:

provide a space to empower youth to re-engage with community;
give young people a place to hang out and engage in social situations where they can enjoy each other's company and access informal youth work support;
provide a safe, dry (alcohol and drug free) place for young people to socialize with their friends and participate in a broad range of structured and unstructured programs and activities;
address social exclusion through improved service delivery coordination by government and community service providers;
provide information about, and referral to, agencies providing services to young people;
provide young people with access to information and services, which will enable them to make better life choices eg employment, health & well-being, counselling, a whole range things;
provide a means for Council & Government to maintain contact and to consult with young people on issues of importance to them through youth forums, surveys and other means.

At a much deeper level, the Youth Space is about investing in our local young people and changing lives for the better by engaging and improving their participation whilst supporting them to overcome any issue that is impacting on their life. This Space will create an opportunity for the various stakeholders to come together in supporting local young people in a more cooperative and effective way. The concept of a Youth Space makes access for young people to services easier and non-threatening.

On a broader level local cultural and community groups will be encouraged to use the Youth Space as a central venue from which to run youth activities.

Behind the Scenes

A Youth Space working group was formed and chaired by Tamworth Regional Council to consult with young people, community leaders, local service providers and stakeholders to explore the viability of supporting the proposal being put forward for a Coledale Youth Space. This groupis representative of the key stakeholders and project partners and will guide the development and implementation of the Youth Space project.

A code of conduct and induction program will be developed by and for young people and reviewed annually.

Proposed Governance Model

A Consortium is the proposed governance model. The Consortium would be made up of members from key service partners and a lead agency held together by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The MOU would set out the following governance arrangements:

Role and responsibilities of Consortium members;
Role and responsibilities of the Lead Agency;
Accountability and community engagement arrangements;
Contributions by individual Consortium members including in kind and material;
Vision, principles and purpose including program description of the Coledale Youth Space (concept brief);
Code of Conduct;

The MOU would be reviewed annually.

APPENDIX 2 – Summary of responses to consultation questions

Questions	Recommendations
1: what do you think about the concept? The CYS Concept has the support of more than 60% of youth and the largest proportion of Agencies and stakeholders “A lot of people want positive change and wan to move away from negativity”1	CYS committee to support the findings of the consultancy by further pursuing Tamworth Regional Council’s funding support and services to progress delivery on the establishment of a CYS
2: what does it look like? A complex which has a variety of option in facilities, services, support staff and development programs which cater to youth across, but not limited to, sporting, social, counselling, community and educational enhancement.	The CYS Committee to define the broad community focus of the CYS concept, to a more aligned design for the CYS facility, and specific service delivery packaging to be available there-from.
3: what do you think will help the concept work? It need be open and have programs/services after hours and on weekends. Community has an emphasis on youth and community safety and enhancing community harmony.	The CYS committee to ensure the CYS facility offers and is, a ‘Safe Place’ for youth, participants in programs and staff supporting them. CYS Committee to establish a Youth Representative Committee (establish and support on-going ‘Youth Leadership’ programs). They support Youth Forums, workshops, and meet independent of, and jointly with the YOWG.
4: what would stop it from working? Not embedding the youth and community ideals of respect, safety and pride in the CYS will see their reluctance to engage.	The CYS Committee must ensure the youth and other stakeholders remain engaged in all development aspects of furthering the CYS Concept to fruition.
5: what could you do as an organisation to make it work? Participating agencies proposed possible programs, services delivery and support from a CYS facility but specific commitment to the dedications of funding levels and service delivery were not attained.	1/ CYS Committee note the Individual youth, adults and Agencies who have offered support and considering the provision of services, and enter into formal agreements (MOUs) with each to further progress the CYS Concept. 2/ The visible demonstration of progressing the CYS Concept (now so obviously supported) and immediate progression of the any possible services, will ‘win’ stakeholder support to remain/become engaged.

APPENDIX 3: Summary of current and desired activities

CURRENT ACTIVITIES	DESIRED ACTIVITIES
Sports in the park (Granny Munro Park) including:- General sporting activities since January 2009 Mini Basketball (Midnight Basketball – ongoing) Touch Football	Fit boxing Board Games
Movies in the Park (Granny Munro Park)	Computers - Internet Homework centre
Social programs such as skills development and personal interest programs including:- Cooking classes Driving skills Excursions Self Esteem	Excursions and experience trips in holiday periods – men take boys out to bush and women take girls to beach (swap each holiday) Age based activities
ColedaleCommunity Gardenand Men’s Shed
NEW INITIATIVES (in the pipe line)	Deportment classes Good look style classes for boys and girls
Youth discos assisted by Elders	Gomeroi dance performances Job ready skills
Proposed Skate Park in Coledale	Skate park, Bike track (with jumps ie BMX) Movie nights, Games
Didgeridoo classes	Drop In Centre plus special programs Guest speakers who have changed their lives (motivational)
Camps – recreation and Aboriginal culture	Blue light discos Music and entertainment
Youth Leadership workshops	DV program Fun Days – everything Free
	Options for girls to talk to someone – open eyes to different pathways other than having kids young X-Box
	Performing Arts; Music Art programs and screen printing Pool table
	Workshop benches and activities Help kids deal and understand the past so can build a better future

APPENDIX 4: Coledale Statistical Profile

Coledale Community Profile

At the time of the 2006 Census, West Tamworth (Coledale) residents’ information was collected in 6 discrete Census Collection Districts (CCDs) making quite specific analysis of their information possible. Throughout the following section of this document the data of Coledale residents is compared to data from across the Tamworth Urban Area, NSW and Australia (APPENDIX No: ).

Relative Disadvantage

SEIFA Index

The SEIFA Index provides a score of relative social advantage and disadvantage for census collection areas across Australia with the average score being 1000. In 2006, Coledale’s score of 722.8 puts it in the 1^st percentile band for relative disadvantage across Australia (in other words, 99% of the Australian population are relatively more advantaged). Coledale also has much greater relative disadvantage when compared to the Tamworth LGA region as a whole which scores 972.2 (on the 40^th percentile).

Within Coledale the SEIFA index of residents varied between CCDs from 715 in CCD 1051115 (includes Cole Rd, Glen St and Sue Cr) to 826 in CCD 1051108 (includes Edith St, Bent St, Mack St, Ridge St and Southview St). These SEIFA scores put Coledale in the 1^st to 4^th percentile for relative disadvantage across Australia (in other words, 96% - 99% of the Australian population are relatively more advantaged). Other SEIFA indexes show that Coledale’s 6 CCDs rank in the 1^st and 2^nd percentiles for relative disadvantage in Education and Occupation across Australia, and in the 1^st to 6^th percentile bands for relative disadvantage in Economic Resources across Australia.

Demographics

Population distribution

Coledale’s population was 3, 068 of which 884 people (28.8%) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and a further 112 were born overseas. Relative to the Tamworth LGA’s population, Coledale has a much higher population of Aboriginalresidents which make up only 7% of the population across the Shire, and a slightly lower number of overseas born residents.

Coledale’s population also included relatively more young people with 1,091 (35.6%) aged under 18 years, compared to only 26.4% of the Tamworth LGA population as a whole; and relatively less older people with only 266 (8.6%) aged over 65 and only 10 (0.3%) of these aged over 85, compared to the Tamworth LGA which has 15.4% of its population over 65 including 1.8% over 85 years.

Family composition

Coledale’s families were predominantly single parent families (28.08%), followed by couples with children (22.38%) and couples with no children (13.33%). In comparison, Tamworth LGA has less than half the proportion of single parent families per capita (11.58%), more couples with children (27.46%) and twice the proportion of couples with no children (26.03%)

Employment and Income

Working adults

Coledale’s population was primarily not of working age (30.04%) or not participating in the labour force (33.37%). 14.7% were employed full-time and 9.03% were employed part-time. Another 7.08% were unemployed and looking for part- or full-time work. For those who responded to questions about industry of employment, 148 were employed in manufacturing and 100 in retail. Relatively more of the population were employed as labourers or in related jobs (26.6% compared to 11.5% across the whole Tamworth LGA), but relatively similar proportions of the population were employed as tradespeople (14.2%) or in intermediate clerical and sales positions (15.9%) which represented the other highest proportions of occupation types. Relatively fewer professionals and associate professionals resided in Coledale (11% of all Coledale workers) compared to 27.2% of all workers across the Tamworth LGA.

Weekly individual income

In terms of average weekly individual income, only 2.9% of Coledale’s population earned a high income (over $1000/week), while 59.4% earned a low income (less than $400 per week), compared with 12.7% and 46.0% respectively across the Tamworth LGA. Additionally, 70.1% of Coledale’s population earned an annual income of less than $23,937 compared to 54.7% of the Tamworth LGA population. Compared to the 2001 Census there were slightly more people in Coledale earning a incomes in the two lower income quartiles (less than $23,937/year; 2.8% increase) and slightly less people earning in the two higher income quartiles (more than $23,937/year; 2.8% decrease) by 2006.

Weekly household income

In terms of average weekly household income, only 2.9% of Coledale households had a high income (over $1700/week), while 36.1% were low income households (less than $500 per week), compared with 13.8% and 24.2% respectively across the Tamworth LGA. Additionally, 78.6% of Coledale’s households had an annual income of less than $53,782 compared to 59.5% of the Tamworth LGA population. Compared to the 2001 Census there were slightly more Coledale households earning incomes in the lower income quartile (less than $27,620/year; 4.5% increase) and less people earning in the three higher income quartiles (more than $27,620/year; 4.6% decrease) by 2006.

APPENDIX 5: Coledale Crime Statistics from the Oxley Local Area Command

The following information is drawn from a Police report which was compiled by the Oxley Intelligence Office following a request from Oxley Local Area Commander Superintendent Pheeney. This report is the third report of a sequel relating to the Coledale area.

Data contained in this report was sourced from a number of NSW Police systems including Local Intelligence data bases, COPS, EDW and MapInfo.

Department of Housing manage and own a significant proportion of premises (approximately 385) within the boundaries of Coledale with an increasing trend of selling these premises privately as they are vacated by tenants.

Crime Review

A crime review for four (4) months (1 March to 30 June 2010) was completed by the Oxley Intelligence Office on 14 July 2010. A total for the four (4) month period is recorded as well as the percentage of total incidents in the Tamworth Sector which occurred in Coledale. Tamworth sector includes any suburbs with the postcode 2340 within the boundaries (GISDATA) defined by Tamworth Regional Council.

Assault

Records indicate that currently Coledale accounts for 19% of assaults in the Tamworth Sector during the period March to June 2010. This is a 1% increase for overall reporting period since December 2006 however there is a 7% increase from the last reporting period of December 2009 to February 2010.

Break and Enter

Coledale accounts for 18% of the Break and Enter Offences recorded in the Tamworth sector for the period December 06 to June 2010. There has been a slight increase in figures from December 09 to February 2010 (13%) compared to the latest data from March to June 2010 (16%).

Robbery and Stealing

Only a small proportion of stealing offences (11%) have occurred in the Coledale area of Tamworth. This may be attributed to the low socio-economic status of residents (less valuable items of property), or perhaps the greater likelihood of the Person of Interest being identified by persons known to them – persons with similar economic status. Of concern is the steady increase of these offences in the Coledale area. The trend suggests that this type of offence will continue to increase. However, there has been a significant increase in the percentage of robberies occurring in the Coledale area (from 11% last reporting period to 33% this reporting period). One of these robberies was perpetrated on a takeaway food delivery employee, and the other two involved multiple youths demanding money and mobile phones with violence or threat of violence.

For the entire Tamworth area, the highest number of Stealing type is Other Steal (32%) and Steal from Motor Vehicle (30%) which mostly occur during night hours. This type of offence is an opportunistic crime usually committed with a number of contributing factors. However, In Coledale alone, the most common type of stealing is Steal from Motor Vehicle (56%) followed by Other Steal (28%), and Steal from Dwelling (16%).

During the period June 09 to November 09, the percentage of Robberies grew from 11% to 20% for the Coledale area, however this was only an increase of 1 incident from December 08 to May 09 and maintained a steady trend from December 2007 to November 2008. During this reporting period of March to June 2010, however there has been an increase of 22% for a total of three (3) robberies occurring in the Coledale area. This is the highest number of robberies recorded since December 2006 when this document was first prepared. There were no robberies recorded in the last reporting period of December 2009 to February 2010.

Malicious Damage

Coledale currently accounts for 24% of offences in the Tamworth Sector recorded in the period March to June 2010. This is one of the highest crime types for Coledale and has a considerable impact on the number of offences in Tamworth. Of the total offences for Tamworth, 8% have an associated factor of Domestic Violence and 10% are recorded as Alcohol Related. In Coledale alone, 14% of malicious damages have an associated factor of alcohol related (4% higher than the entire Tamworth Sector average) and 10% attributed to an associated factor of domestic violence (3% higher than the Tamworth Sector average).

Most malicious damage offences are committed by persons unknown and are damage to privately owned property.

Criminality

The conceptual objective of the Coledale Youth Space facility is, amongst other things, to encourage residents, and youth in particular, to adopt healthy lifestyle alternatives. Mitigation of criminality is explicit in this objective. The current situation is discussed next.

Causes of Crime

Research by the NSW Attorney General’s Department in 1997 confirmed the importance to long-term crime prevention of reducing the level of poverty and unemployment, enhancing the social supports available to those who face poverty and unemployment, and capitalising on early intervention programs to improve the quality of parenting behaviour.

Complementary researchdemonstrated that child neglect is the strongest predictor of juvenile involvement in crime. Earlier research identified specifically that parents who did not go on outings with their children, who showed indifference and little affection for their children, and who often were unaware of their children’s whereabouts were creating powerful causal preconditions for juvenile delinquency and conduct problems.

Relevance for LGA

Community consultationsshowed that, in every Indigenous community including Tamworth, Indigenous Elders hold grave concerns about the poor quality of parenting exercised by many parents. BOCSAR research clearly extends this observation to non-Indigenous impoverished and disadvantaged parents.

Coledale demonstrates many of the features of a societally and economically stressed enclave:

derelict housing,
vandalism,
graffiti,
discarded refuse,
evident poverty,
societal disharmony,
family violence, and
recurrent crime (especially against property).

Local Incidence of Crime

The data show that the most prevalent and steadily increasing offences are::

Stolen vehicle;
Robbery;
Malicious damage to property;
Break and enter;
Stealing;
Assault; and
Harassment, /threatening behaviour, private nuisance.

Participants in Surveys & Focus Groups expressed concerns about anti-social behaviour by:

young people, sometimes perceived to be drug and alcohol affected;
older people aged between 25 and 45 years, believed to be affected by alcohol and other drugs;
people displaying threatening and sometimes violent behaviour in public, coupled with verbal and physical threats and offensive language; and
young people throwing rocks at passing cars that might cause a serious accident.

Crime Data indicates that the highest propensity for crime is in the immediate post-school years. This focuses the intention underpinning the Coledale Youth Space Concept: pro-social attitudes encouraged in youth will reduce the potential for criminality in later years.

Consequences of Crime

Reflecting the focus of the CYS Vision, the social and economic consequences of poverty, inadequate parenting, and juvenile delinquency are evident in the national Indigenous sentencing statistics:

Indigenous people are almost 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous Australians; and
Indigenous youth are more than 17 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous youth.

Cost of Crime

Research by the NSW Attorney-General’s Department, identifies the specific costs of crime as follows:

Direct economic cost: up to $1,050 per capita of population per annum.
Consequential economic cost: $1,600 per capita of population per annum.
Direct social cost: emotional trauma, stress, personal inconvenience or physiological harm, which arise after a direct encounter with crime.
Indirect social cost: community perceptions of personal risk, the prevalence of crime, and the adequacy of policing.

Applying the national data to the LGA:

aggregated direct and consequential economic cost of crime equates to 10.5% of the average per capita income in some local LGAs; and
there is direct evidence in the perceptions of LGA residents of the national social responses to crime.

Applying State-level statistics, if the cost of crime is attributed per reported criminal incident or per imprisonment, the aggregate economic cost per capita increases to between:

$52,350 and $104,700 per reported offence; and
$4 million and $6.86 million per prisoner.

Implications

The preceding data is placed in stark relief by the realisation that almost 30% of the LGA’s aggregate population is under the age of 17, and 60% of the under-17 cohort is less than nine years of age.

These data, in conjunction with the very high rate of high school dropout of Indigenous youth illustrate that, unless opportunities are actively created for youth, the potential cost of crime for the community could be very substantial.

Deductions

The following deductions are made:

the LGA faces a serious reduction in the population cohort of working age over the next 20 years;
the Indigenous population is very heavily weighted towards town dwelling;
a way of encouraging high school children to complete their education to the level of their capability is needed;
a way of encouraging youth to undertake employment-relevant course of training is needed;
labour market trends indicate: a sustained reduction in unskilled jobs; and an increasing requirement for higher skill levels;
the probable overall monetary costs of a ‘Coledale Youth Space’ facility equates to the aggregate economic cost of between two and four criminal incidents; and
the economic and social cost of crime is so great that any measure to reduce criminal incidents is potentially beneficial.

Conclusion

The discussion in this Section shows that there is an immediate and critical need for actions that will:

reduce the outflow of educated young people from the LGA;
increase the employment of, and employability of Indigenous people;
attract people of employment age to the LGA; and
reduce the incidence of criminal activity.

Underlying the need is the view that, unless a location offers the human services and a social environment that is acceptable to people, those that have the wherewithal to leave will do so, and those who are unable to leave will express their frustration through anti-social behaviour.

Together, the considerations outlined in this Section present a compelling justification for establishment of the envisaged Coledale Youth Space.

APPENDIX 6: UNE Evaluation Report

2010-06-29

Mr. Bruce Mercer
Manager Cultural & Community Services
Tamworth Regional Council

SUBJECT: Evaluation of Coledale Youth Space Committee Activities

Dear Mr. Mercer,

I am pleased to provide you with this copy of the evaluation of the Coledale Youth Space Committee’s Activities over the past 12 months, conducted by myself, Dr. Linda Turner, and my colleagues Dr. Kuyinia Abubakar and Dr. Myfanwy Maple, members of the Social Work Course team in the School of Health.

Thank you for this opportunity to be involved in the project through completing the evaluation, and we look forward to further cooperation and collaboration during the second phase of the evaluation process.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss any aspects of the report, or to provide clarification of any aspects that are unclear.

Sincerely,

Dr. Linda Turner, PhD, MEd., MSW, BSW

Associate Professor

EVALUATION: COLEDALE YOUTH SPACE COMMITTEE’S (CYSC) ACTIVITIES

CONDUCTED BY:

Social Work Course Faculty Team, School of Health University of New England:

Dr. Ahmed Bawa Kuyinia-Abubakar Associate Professor Linda Turner and Dr. Myfanwy Maple

DATE SUBMITTED: June 30^th, 2010

OVERACHING FRAMEWORK: ACCOUNTABLITY MODEL

This evaluation of the Coledale Youth Space Committee’s activities is based on an agreed-upon rationale and structure. CYSC has provided a series of documents that were assessed in the context of the evaluation. A list of those documents is provided in Appendix 1.

Rationale:

Emanating from Tamworth Regional Council’s (TRC) Draft Management Plan 2010-2013, an intention to “work with key partners and the Coledale community on developing the Coledale Youth Space Concept”(DMP, p.42) as part of a drive towards overall improvement in youth services was initiated.

One of the first steps in crystallising this vision was the setting up of the Coledale Youth Space Committee (CYSC), which has been engaged in developing a framework that would identify the process and actions for realising the improved youth service vision.

The rationale for this evaluation is to undergo examination of the documentation issuing from the committee’s work in the last 12 months to:

Determine the clarity of the goals and objectives and
Assess the committee’s activities in terms of meeting some of the key criteria of an accountability evaluation model

Evaluation of Coledale Youth Space Committee’s Activities

Executive Summary

Faculty from the Social Work Course at University of New England’s School of Health were asked to conduct an evaluation of the activities of this committee, covering the past 12 months of work. The Evaluation was completed June 30^th, 2010.

The Evaluators have found that the Committee has clearly defined objectives, which include conducting a comprehensive consultation process that reflects congruence with needs identified through an assessment that involved over 150 youth from the community.

The data assessed for the evaluation indicates that the Coledale Youth Space Committee has been effective and is to be commended for the following aspects of the process:

Completion of a Youth Survey with contributions from 159 participants between the ages of 8 and 20, that shows a range of needs and services, and subsequent incorporation of the findings into the Youth space concept brief;
Creation of the Youth space concept draft brief, developed through a collective and ongoing process, which clearly outlines the mission, vision, key principles and outcomes
Holding regular (fortnightly) meetings that follow efficient and established protocol;
Establishing and maintaining linkages with governmental (state and local government) and non-governmental agencies that have some form of engagement with youth and/or would have a positive impact on developing the CYS concept;
Planning and conducting widespread consultations over a period sufficiently lengthy as to provide opportunities for as many community members as possible to participate and in sufficiently diverse venues (eg. with “Midnight Basketball” participants)
Maintaining the principle that Coledale Youth Space needs to be a project with a strong sense of ownership and support from the community members who will use and benefit from it as a central tenet that directs activities

Structure:

Taking an accountability model approach, this evaluation has examined whether the goals and objectives of CYSC have been clearly identified (Part 1) and the degree to which the committee’s key activities meet accountability model criteria, specifically with regard to having objective, conducting planning, and implementation.

Part 1: Examination of the clarity of the goals and objectives of CYSC

A. Assessment of clarify of goals and objectives and of the utilization of behavioural and performance indicators.

Comments: The objectives of CYSPC are clear. The Coledale Youth Space Concept Brief states: The Youth Space working group (called the Committee) was formed and is chaired by Tamworth Regional Council to “...consult with young people, community leaders, local service providers and stakeholders to explore the viability of supporting the proposal being put forward for a Coledale Youth Space”.

This group is representative of numerous stakeholders and project partners and is intended to provide guidance for the development and implementation of the Youth Space project. Minutes reflect attendance by representatives from Tamworth Regional Council, Careers Network, Joblink Plus, Aboriginal Affairs NSW, Ngay Dhinawan Pty Ltd, Gomeroi Dance Group Housing NSW, Tamworth Youth Care and UNE. Other partners identified in an early Minutes document (29/9/09) include DOC’s, Hunter New England Area Health, TAFE, ICC, Department of Education and Training, NSW Police, and TADGAM.

Evidence of the articulation of goals and objectives can be found in minutes for a meeting 17 November 2009, when agreement was reached by the committee to maintain the following focus during the short-term period:

1. Develop a Draft Concept Brief;

2. Consult with Coledale Community, Non Government Agencies and Government Agencies to determine the level of need and support for the concept (Feb – March 2010),

3. Refine and incorporate feedback from stakeholders into the document (April, 2010) and

4. Manage the consultation process.

The objectives of the committee are concretized through the use of behavioural verbs such as “develop”, “consult”, and “explore”, and the deliverables that will emerge as outcomes are clearly identified: a concept paper in which feedback will be incorporated, and consultation meetings.

A timeframe is consistently attached to each of the performance indicators/deliverables.

B. Assessment of whether any goals and objectives and/or behavioural and performance indicators are noticeably absent from the process:

Comments: An absence of goals and objectives or of behavioural/performance indicators is not evident. Our review deemed that objectives are clear and reiterated often in the minutes for the committee, as are the tasks and processes to be achieved in a specified timeframe, and all are tied to deliverables.

In addition, meeting minutes reflect consistent and ongoing attention to determining whether objectives and tasks have been fulfilled, allowing for extensions of time for acceptable reasons (eg. Consultations are being extended beyond the initial timeframe in order to permit the level of participation deemed to be important in the principles and objectives).

C. Assessment of whether the objectives and activities of the committee are evaluated in a formative way or whether there is evidence of a built in evaluation mechanism:

Comments: Discussion of the need for evaluation surfaces early in the process and includes efforts to identify the most appropriate models. A decision was taken by the group to request UNE faculty to conduct an evaluation of work to date, and to develop a framework for evaluation of future work. It is anticipated that the framework for future evaluation will identify formative elements to strengthen ongoing evaluative processes.

D. Assessment of how well the committee is working towards the stated objectives and specifically, what is being done well:

Comments: Review of all meeting minutes from September 29^th, 2009 to May 18^th, 2010 reflect continual movement toward achieving stated objectives, and a committed focus on principles articulated in the initial meeting (and included in the Concept paper). Noteworthy among things CYSC is doing particularly well are:

Completion of a Youth Survey with contributions from 159 participants between the ages of 8 and 20, that shows a range of needs and services, and subsequent incorporation of the findings into the Youth space concept brief;
Creation of the Youth space concept draft brief which clearly outlines the mission, vision, key principles and outcomes and that has been developed through a collective and ongoing process;
Holding regular (fortnightly) meetings that follow efficient and established protocol;
Establishing and maintaining linkages with governmental (state and local government) and non-governmental agencies that have some form of engagement with youth and/or would have a positive impact on developing the CYS concept;
Ongoing expansion of committee membership to include new people whose presence could contribute favourably to fulfilment of the committee’s objectives
Planning and conducting widespread consultations over a period sufficiently lengthy as to provide opportunities for as many community members as possible to participate and in diverse venues (eg. with “Midnight Basketball” participants)
Maintaining the principle that Coledale Youth Space needs to be a project with a strong sense of ownership and support from the community members who will use and benefit from it as a central tenet that directs activities

Part 2. Assessment of committee’s activities in terms of meeting some of the key criteria of an accountability evaluation model, including Objectives, Planning and Implementation

Note re: Setting up of interim/Sub-committees under the CYSPC umbrella

Comments: Due to the size of this committee (attendance at meetings has ranged from 5-11 attendees), sub-committees do not appear to have been formed, however teams of people are assigned or volunteer to take responsibility for tasks and activities and in some cases all members contribute or are involved.

The group may wish to consider, should the committee membership be enlarged, using an interim/sub-committee format to divide responsibility for tasks and initiatives. An agenda item at a future meeting could be to discuss the need for and types of sub-committees that would be helpful now or in the future. If determined that sub-committee structures would be helpful, the evaluation framework for the future would include application of the following evaluation measures to each sub-committee:

Objectives- Are they clear and with behavioural and performance indicators?

Planning- Are there any divisional objectives? Do the selected activities have the potential to achieve their objectives? What kinds of agencies or personnel are engaged? Are they a risk? What are the risks of failing to achieve objectives? How will outcomes be evaluated or is there an evaluation plan for each activity?

Implementation- How well are the sub-committees working towards the stated objectives? What is being done well? What needs improvement? Is an evaluation process included?

Activity 1:Community consultation process

Objectives: Are they clear and with behavioural and performance indicators?

Comments: The objectives for the community consultation are clear (“To assess community acceptance of the proposed Youth Space Concept), and include deliverables and timelines.

The consultation process reflects a broadly based approach. Meeting minutes from 8 March, 2010 indicate the intent to have 3 stages to the Consultation that include:

Stage 1. Desktop research through a hired consultant who would work closely with the reference group;

Stage 2. Consultations including 3 full day workshops (1 Youth Forum and 2 World Cafes), to be completed by 31 May 2010. The cafes were intended to target representatives from young people, as well as government and non-government agencies, with a rotational group methodology. All Committee members were invited to assist in the process of capturing the ideas and suggestions and

Stage 3: a Final Report with a deadline date of 15 June 2010 (*At the time of writing this report, the need for an additional consultation was identified and scheduled for July).

Planning- Any divisional objectives? (i.e. for the different activities)

Comments: This Activity, the Consultation process, is ongoing at the time of writing this evaluation, thus comments refer to the fulfilment of objectives and the process up to June, 2010 but acknowledge that the group continues to hold consultations.

Do the selected activities have the potential to achieve their objectives?

The activities selected, being the Youth Forum and 2 World Cafes, were appropriate to the objectives for which they were created. A more formalized evaluation instrument for the forums may have been developed and utilized, however if not, such an instrument would be an appropriate task to include in the framework for future evaluations.

What kinds of agencies or personnel are engaged? Are they a risk?

Agencies and personnel participating in the forum, it is assumed, would be representative and given that the purpose is to attain honest and helpful feedback, the issue of being a risk would not seem to be relevant.

What are the risks of failing to achieve objectives?

The objective of this activity was said to be to gain insights and understanding into the level of support for the Coledale Youth Space Concept and to expand knowledge of needs of the community and specifically youth who would benefit from it. If the consultations do not allow for such feedback to be shared and communicated, the project would not have the information and support it needs. There is evidence in the documentation assessed and during a recent meeting attended by one member of the evaluation team that the group is aware of the importance of creating an environment in which participation and feedback gathering will be maximized.

How will outcomes be evaluated or is there an evaluation plan for each activity

Evidence of an evaluation plan for each activity was not identified, however as mentioned above, the framework for evaluation of future activities should include recognition of the importance of evaluation in this regard.

Implementation

Comments: Given the timing of this evaluation and the ongoing nature of the consultations, the following questions cannot be completely answered at this time, however should receive priority in the second part of the evaluation process being conducted by UNE, thus they have been maintained within the document. Where evidence in the documentation provided gives content for evaluation, comments have been made.

How well is consultation proceeding towards the stated objectives? The Committee has discussed the consultations held to date during its June 22^nd meeting, and shared impressions on the degree to which they have been effective in contributing to meeting the objectives, and identified where there are gaps that can be responded to in the July consultation
How broad is the consultation process? There is clear evidence of a consultation process that has been broad in scope.
Is it adequate is terms of breadth and depth? For the purposes it is intended, the consultation process appears to meet the dimensions of breadth and depth.
Is it focussed enough? Questions asked appear to have enabled the committee to gather relevant data and views, by having a focus that is clear while not constraining responses.
What is being done well? (In terms of stated objectives but also in terms of sociological and community engagement theories and principles) Careful consideration of who is participating in the consultations and how to involve more participants, as well as respect for utilizing formats that will lead to greater levels of communication and participation is evident in the Committee’s discussions.
What needs improvement? (This should be based on the objectives and community engagement theories and principles) The Committee is implementing adaptations in its processes based on effectiveness and limitations of each consultation. An evaluation of the July Consultation will be important to identify if the changes made will yield additional participation and generate support for the concept among community members.

Activity 2:Youth and community needs survey

A review of the needs assessment survey report was undertaken along with an evaluation of the degree to which the results have been used for the purpose for which it was intended

1. What actions were or are being proposed / undertaken from the survey and are they congruent with the main objectives for which the survey was created?

The survey reflects a process that invited welcomed the participation and idea-sharing by youth in a comprehensive way. For example, they were invited to comment on the types of places they wished they could go to, or services they wished were more easily available to them and concerns about personal safety that preoccupied them. Youth perceptions about barriers to accessing existing services were also obtained. A particularly interesting question was their view on one thing that would make Coledale a better place for them to live.

The survey results show support for the Coledale Youth Space Concept and provide many suggestions about what services the young people would like to see being provided by such a space. Given that the survey was created to try to determine whether a Coledale Youth Space Concept was desirable, the further actions currently being undertaken by the committee are congruent with the rationale for conducting the survey.

2. Does the list of priority actions reflect the findings of the survey?

The consultations have tabled the young peoples’ ideas around governance, services and philosophy of the youth space that resonate with the survey’s findings. It is important that during evaluation that will take place in the future, new priority actions continue to maintain relevance with the findings of the survey.

3. Do those priority actions have behavioural and performance objectives /indicators?

Priority actions in terms of consultations, while having behavioural indicators, might benefit from brainstorming of successful performance indicators in terms of numbers of attendees, numbers of participants who verbalize their viewpoints, and levels of results from evaluations by those attending that would indicate measures of “success” of the consultations.

4. Are the identified needs used as criteria for choosing the target groups, agencies or individuals involved in current consultation processes?

Yes: Meeting minutes consistently reflect conscientious efforts to “hear from” individuals and groups with needs that could be met through the Youth Space project. The desire to increase participation in consultations by all youth in the community is clear.

5. Are there any domains of needs in the report that are not covered in the consultation process? Is there any domain of need, which is not being represented in the consultation process?

There does not appear to be any glaring domains of needs that surfaced in the report that are not covered or acknowledged through the consultation process, however it may be valuable for the Committee to take measures to analyse the data to ensure that the process of attending to domains of needs is exhaustive.

6. Is the focus (including the questions asked) in the consultation linked to the responses from the needs assessment survey?

Revised Questions being asked in the consultation process as of June 25^th were:

What does the term “YouthSpace” mean to you?

Do you think a Youth Space for Coledale is a good idea?

What things would happen there?

What would this space look like?

What specific activities and/or Services would you like to see happen at the Youth Space? (Prioritise Top 5)

How can we build respect for the Centre so as to minimise malicious damage and vandalism?

One of the aims of the Youth Space is to strengthen community values eg respect, participation and leadership.

What values would you like to see back in this community?

Could the Coledale Community Centre meet this need for a youth space?

Where would you locate the Coledale Youth Space?

Is anyone interested in being involved in this project i.e. Youth representative?

A link can be seen between the needs assessment responses and the questions and areas of interest that have been and continue to be explored in the consultations.

7. To what degree is the set of identified needs being made part of the CYS concept document?

Aspects of the needs assessment that youth highlighted that are evident in the CYC concept document include:

Emphasis on creation of a “safe place where: young people can hang out while having the opportunity to participate/engage in a wide range of constructive activities; and young people can access a range of services available to them”
Recognition of the value of a core values induction/moral code/ accreditation that will contribute to the “safe place” preoccupation
Identification of diverse program types, under headings of “youth friendly and accessible support”; “sport, leisure and culture”, and “employment and education”
Notably many respondents to the survey described one thing that would make their community a better place to live is an environment where there are no drugs or alcohol; ensuring that the Coledale Youth Space is a “safe, dry (alcohol and drug free) place” is emphasized in the concept document.

Conclusion and “Next Steps”:

This evaluation, which has applied an accountability model structure to the Coledale Youth Space Committee’s Activities, has identified numerous strengths in the process and activities achieved by this group in the relatively short period of time covered by the assessment. Clearly identified objectives, consistent recording of planned behavioural and performance indicators and the achievement of objectives and tasks, and congruency between identified needs and subsequent actions are all easily recognized when reading through the documentation that reflects the processes.

The evaluation also had a mandate to identify any gaps or aspects needing improvement. At the current time no gaps are identified: Consultations have extended into July and it is assumed that a collective decision that the process can conclude will be based on criteria that will indicate that the objective of including full participation by community members and stakeholders in the process has been met.
This juncture may be an opportune time for the committee to not only devote time to clarifying the future evaluation means and frameworks, but to consider whether the processes and activities used might be further solidified and strengthened by:

Discussing how consultations individually and as a whole have been evaluated and whether a formal process for evaluation is required;
Evaluating whether current active membership on the committee adequately reflects the desired level of partner involvement or if targeted recruitment of new members would be beneficial;
Consideration of whether sub-committee development would be feasible and assist in attaining further objectives and undertaking priority actions;
Identification of the newly emerging priorities and objectives that need to be determined as the consultation process concludes;
Ongoing methods to achieve the committee’s principle of enhancing and ensuring community member involvement.

This evaluation team has agreed to develop a “future evaluation” protocol, documentation and framework, to be delivered 31 July 2010. The opportunity to be involved with Coledale Youth Space Committee in this role of conducting an evaluation are greatly appreciated by the Social Work Course team at University of New England. We thank you for your collaboration and cooperation.

Appendix 1:

List of documentation provided and analyzed for this evaluation:

“Coledale Youth Space Concept Brief” (Draft)(4 pages)
Meeting Minutes for 12 meetings conducted between 29 September 2009 and 18 May 2010(30 pages)
Kids in Action (KiA) Survey (19 pages)
Midnight Basketball Coledale Youth Space Consultation: Nov. 28^th (10 pages)
Redcliffe Youth Space Visit June 2009 (4 pages)
Consultation Report March 2010: (7 pages)

Secondary Reference Documents:

1. Tamworth Regional Council Community Profile

2. SEIFA Index of Disadvantage

APPENDIX 7: Coledale Youth Space Petition

The Youth Opportunities Working Group was also previously known as the Coledale Youth Space Committee

Used here, the term Aboriginal is inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Note these statistics are presented as a proportion of the total population of Coledale, not as a proportion of the labour force.

Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research; see:

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_...

Don Weatherburn and Bronwyn Lind (1997), Social and Economic Stress, Child Neglect and Juvenile Delinquency, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Attorney General’s Department, Sydney, piii.

Source: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/r42.pdf/$file/r42.pdf

Don Weatherburn (2001), What Causes Crime? Crime and Justice Bulletin, February, BOCSAR, Sydney, p4.

Pia Salmelainen (1996), Child Neglect: Its Causes and its Role in Delinquency, Crime and Justice Bulletin, No 33, December, BOCSAR, p3.

Conducted in mid-2004 during preparation of the Kamilaroi Regional Plan.

National incarceration data show that:

of Aboriginal youth in custody, 87% are male and 13% female;
the average age of youth admitted to prison is 16.2 years, with 30% being 15 years of age or less;
of the Indigenous youth in prison, 68% are on control orders, and 32% on remand;
the three most common offences were break and enter (29% of juvenile offenders), robbery (27%), and other assault (13%); and
around 2% completed the Higher School Certificate of Indigenous youth in prison, 91% left school before Year 10, and 2% completed Primary School only.

Source: Department of Juvenile Justice Client Information Data System; data for 13 October 2000.

1999 Bureau of Crime Research data show that 5,218 of 16,387 offenders in NSW were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. In the same year, the imprisonment rate of Indigenous offenders was 119 per 1000 head of population, compared with 12 per 1000 head of the non-Indigenous population.

Indigenous youth constitute less than 3% of the 10-17 age group within the Australian population, but make up 36% of the total numbers in juvenile detention centres. Source: NSW Department of Juvenile Justice Report, Aboriginal Over-representation Strategic Plan (2001: 19).

Crime Prevention Division (2000), Juvenile Crime in New South Wales Report: Costs of Juvenile Crime. Source:

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/__4a2565bf0002c46f.nsf/0/17f8282384f1b8fc4a2565cc0012c5eb?OpenDocument

Includes the cost of law enforcement, justice administration and corrective services.

The typical responses to property crime include: anger; about 40 per cent of people who experienced household burglary feel "shocked", 27% experience fear, 30% find difficulty sleeping, while 10.6% experience crying. Source: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/__4a2565bf0002c46f.nsf/0/17f8282384f1b8fc4a2565cc0012c5eb?OpenDocument

Source: MPSC, Moree Facts and Figures, September, p4. Calculation: $2650/($484.27x52)x100

Summing offence data, the aggregate rate of reported criminal incident was 7054 per 100,000 people in NSW in 2004. With a population of around 6.5 million, 458,510 criminal incidents were reported in NSW in 2004. Source:

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/RCS04.pdf/$file/RCS04.pdf

in 2003, Local Courts committed to incarceration 7020 offenders to incarceration and 72 by the Supreme Court. The attributed cost calculation assumes that a similar level of incarceration was repeated in 2004.

Source: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/RCS04.pdf/$file/RCS04.pdf

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Consequences of Crime

Cost of Crime

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Deductions

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Cost of Crime

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Deductions

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