Case Studies -Courage Project

Clare Youth Service has three Case Studies as part of the Courage programme.
1. Personal and Social Development group work programme
2. The CYS Outdoor Education programme
3. The Clare Sports Partnership Health and Fitness programme

For all three areas the primary aim is to: Improve and support the training
needs of Formal Education, Youth work, and associated disciplines to address
the disconnect experienced by some teenagers to both formal and non-formal
education.

Central to all three areas is that the groups will be mixed in relation to young
peoples level of disadvantage and alienation from education, youth work,
sport and other areas of society.

A person centred non-judgemental approach will be used throughout and that

the young people will start where they are at and finish where ever they get to.

All programmes will have a structure and will be planned with best practice in
the particular field providing the theoretical and practical framework for the
programme.

The physical, emotional and wellbeing of the young person and the facilitator
will be cared for.
Programmes should be assets as well as needs based, taking the strengths of
the young person and the staff and volunteers into account at all times.

Personal and Social Development group work programme

The Clare Youth Service Personal and Social Development Programme offers
young people opportunities to discuss and explore issues that are important to
them. The programme is carefully designed to assist participants in their
social and personal development.

The programme takes place over 10 weeks where trained youth workers and
Volunteers work with groups of young people on such issues as relationships,
friendship and communication skills.

While Module 1 primarily concerns the development of communication skills

Module 2 is concerned with relationships. During the transition from childhood
to adulthood the understanding and development of positive relationships is
essential and this programme aims to enhance a young persons ability to
develop these relationships.
 For the facilitators it provides an opportunity through peer learning and
supervision to develop their group work and communication skills. In addition
facilitators also have the opportunity for personal development and growth as
part of the training programme.

When this course was introduced there was a recognised need for young
people to examine areas of importance in their lives through the unique
approach of group work.

For staff and volunteers there was a need for training in this method whereby
the workers and volunteers move towards realising that they can facilitate the
young people to learn more from each other then they can teach the young
people directly.

These basic needs are still the case and while the evidence from the
programme is very positive some gaps/questions have emerged from our
baseline examination of the programme.

1. Very few volunteers from youth clubs and projects deliver the
programme at this time. This is in contrast to the early years.
2. While the evidence of learning and progression by facilitators and
young people has been recorded this information has not been collated
or presented in a way that could promote the programme to support
the training needs of other professionals and volunteers.
3. There is no formal long term record of the impact this programme has
had on the lives of those who took part.

We will examine
1. The outcomes and effectiveness of the programme for young people
2. The outcomes and effectiveness of the programme for facilitators
How
This will be done by tracking two groups of facilitators over the programme
1. Staff Youth Work
2. Volunteers - Youth Clubs and Projects

This will be done using

1. Questionnaire
2. Notes from support meetings
3. Reflective journal
The young people from these groups will also feedback their experiences
through the course using a questionnaire and the display they create for the
final assembly.

An effort will be made to track past participants of the programme and ask for
their reflections.

The timeframe for this Case Study will be from August 2016 to January 2017.

The CYS outdoor programme

Outdoor education and programmes in Ireland is a relatively new discipline or

area. The main thrust has been towards supporting second level schools by
providing short courses where technical skills are delivered to young people
such as rock climbing or kayaking. The benefits of these exercises in relation to
personal and social development is somewhat limited and has been largely
ignored or taken for granted by many institutions.

In CYS the outdoor programmes are seen as a tool for youth workers similar to
any other including music, art, sports etc., where the outcomes may relate to
personal development or any issue the young person may identify or need at
that particular time. These may include drug and alcohol issues, criminal or
anti-social behaviour, team building or mental health.

The baseline study examined Programme Logic Models and evaluations of

existing individual CYS Outdoor Programmes. This was done through desk
research and interviews with individual youth workers.

The main findings were;

In the main Outdoors Programmes have been successful with a positive
response from the young people involved and most of the short and
medium term outcomes realised
While there has been some crossover most programmes have been
designed by individual workers and there is no common template for
course design
Most programmes are not backed up by a strong theoretical base and
where it is evident the theory to practice link is weak
There is a wide range of programme type with some more simply
activities rather than non-formal education
There is no specific training programme for staff engaging in outdoor work

Over the course of the case study Clare Youth Service will;
 Introduce a staff training programme specifically designed for those
engaged in outdoor work this will have theoretical and practical
components
Complete a brief review of youth-focused outdoor activity models and the
evidenced outcomes from these models
Write a summary document delineating the effective, or promising
practices identified in CYS outdoor activities in relation to identified best
practice from above
Develop a practical handbook for staff engaged in outdoor work to using
the research based evidence and the action research evidence from
existing CYS programmes.

We will examine
1) The effectiveness of the changes introduced to the outdoor programme
in terms of better outcomes for staff;
a) Have they made it easier to plan and run outdoor activities?
b) Is it easier to recruit young people who would normally not engage?
c) Is it easier for staff new to this area of work to become involved?

2) The effectiveness of the changes introduced to the outdoor programme

in terms of better outcomes for young people;
a) Are the outdoor activities programmes a good learning experience?
b) Are the programmes more accessible to young people who would
normally not engage?
c) Are the outdoor activities fun?
How
This will be done by tracking two groups of facilitators over the programme
1. Establishing a baseline picture for staff in relation to the questions to
be examined and then measuring progress or otherwise after the
changes have been introduced

2. Establishing a baseline picture for young people in relation to the

questions to be examined and then measuring progress or otherwise
after the changes have been introduced

This will be done using

(i) Questionnaire interviews

(ii) Reflective journal
 (iii) An examination of reports from programmes.

The timeframe for this Case Study will be from September 2016 to August 2017.