Essay: Service Program For Homeless Children In Queensland, Australia.

Goal of the program

Question:

Discuss about the Housing and Homelessness Services, Supporting Young People Less than 16 Years of Age.

The community service programs refer to course of action which is focused towards the benefit of the public or its institutions. They are directed towards different public or social entities and their welfare. The primary aim of the service programs is to uplift the standards of different vulnerable sections of the society. The social objective of different service programs is different; however, the underlying objective of all the programs is societal welfare. In this regard, the present report proposes a service program for homeless people under the age of sixteen in Queensland, Australia.

Currently, there is a significant amount of population below sixteen years of age which are homeless or are on the verge of homelessness in Queensland, Australia.  There are several reasons for homelessness; for example, the people from care background are at high risk of homelessness. These people are without the support of any family and soon become disengaged from the system or are unaware of their rights and how to access them. The aboriginal people are also at a high risk of homelessness as these people get less support from the government when these people migrate from their local areas to cities. However, the children under the age of 18 have the right to home, safe housing and a care system and if they are denied accommodation; they become vulnerable to destitution, sexual exploitation, poor health and crime (Waterman, 2014). In this report, a service program is proposed which is directed at assessing the needs of homeless people and assisting them in their lives.

Active consumer voice is essential in vulnerable consumer groups with specialized needs such as homelessness. Effective consumer participation can improve the service outcomes and enhance the service delivery. Several other issues such as health and mental issues, alcohol and drug usage also integrate with the homelessness issues which makes the consumer participation all the more necessary. In this regard, the present report can use a number of strategies for consumer participation in service delivery such as using newsletters, survey or questionnaire, brochures, comment boxes and exit interviews. Newsletters are the most common form of involving consumers in the service program. There are several benefits of newsletters as the consumers get an opportunity to share their experiences and opinions with one another. There are several other benefits of newsletters such as the users can learn different IT skills which are essential for teamwork and abiding by the deadline. They are also a relative cheap method of involving the consumers. The survey or questionnaire is directed at obtaining feedback from the consumers and improving the service quality (Chen, 2014).

Consumer Participation Strategies in Service Delivery

The customer participation can also be increased by using leaflets, brochures and posters. It is important to increase the accessibility of the information and quality of consumer participation. There are several instances when the consumer participation is necessary such as when there is legal requirement or at the beginning of the project. It raises the awareness regarding the activities in the service program and increases consultation and feedback. In the present program, these activities will be used to present the information in clear and concise manner to the consumers and; therefore, increasing the consumer participation in the service program activities (Chen, 2014).

Another important strategy for the consumer participation is implementing consumer led projects. These projects are stand-alone projects which are designed, developed and operated by the consumers. There is a large array of projects which can be used for increasing the consumer participation. The role of the organization is to only offer support or assistance services when required by the consumers. However, it is important that few of the managers of these projects have a considerable amount of experience in running such projects otherwise these projects can be a drastic failure. The primary advantage of these consumer projects is that as they are led primarily by the consumers they are enthusiastically received and delivered. The overall impact of these activities is higher on the consumers. The involvement in these projects can assist the user in gaining new skills and increasing confidence of the employees (Phillips, 2016).

Goal of the program:            

The present homelessness program is directed towards analyzing how the individuals, youth and families experiencing homelessness can be served in a better manner. The program is focused on abolishing the homelessness in the country. In this regard, strategies will be suggested which can address the issue. Housing arrangements will be made for the homeless children below the age of 18.

The primary strategy used in the homelessness program is advocacy strategy. The program will create several sophisticated and effective advocacy strategies with the help of federal, state and the local government. The government funds are the primary source to reduce the homelessness in the community and the advocacy efforts should focus in establishing that policies and the funding are at the right place so that thee homelessness is rare and temporary. It also focuses on identifying new revenue sources at the state level which can increase the funding to make the homelessness rare and temporary. In order to increase the impact of the program, it is important to increase the number and diversity of people involved in the program.

Advocacy Strategy to Reduce Homelessness

The program will also utilize the strategy of system change wherein it is assured that the government and philanthropic funding is used in the most effective manner. It is assured that proper investment is made regarding prevention, innovation and implementation of complementary services such as education, health care and workforce training. With this strategy, it is assured that the money spent on the homelessness services is spent in an effective manner and will achieve remarkable results.

Another strategy which can be used in the homelessness program is field building. Commonly, philanthropic programs are focused on treating the symptoms rather than focusing on the solutions. The homelessness issue can be addressed by field building wherein more private sector money can be used for the development of housing colonies for the homeless people. It is also important that the nonprofit sector moves beyond the traditional methods and utilize different innovative strategies, seeking strategic alliances and collaboration on homelessness. The service program should also focus on developing leadership and creating alliance with different stakeholders (government, consumers and nonprofit organizations) to create opportunities for them to come together and solve important and difficult issues.  

The organization will also use the strategy wherein the youth participation in education job training, health care and other programs will be reduced. The organization can also use different research methods to identify the barriers which arise while accessing these programs. The community program will encourage active participation of the children in education as it is will assist them in leading better lives. The students in higher standards will be encouraged to participate in teaching the lower level kids. Along with it, they will also be required to actively participate in poster or brochure making. It will make them familiar with the technology and increase the overall effectiveness of the program.

In the implementation of the housing program, the organization must integrate prevention and support services. The organization will integrate prevention and support team at regional level to provide support and housing services to all the people who are homeless or are at the risk of being homeless. It should also increase the availability of the housing by increasing the source of funding, explore alternatives to alternative and traditional housing, providing permanent housing solutions for different housing needs and identifying and implementing the actions and decisions required.

A community partnership can also be developed to increase the efficacy of the program. A true partnership should be developed between the governments, business organizations and nonprofit communities so that a coordinated and collaborative community, leadership and policies can be developed (Stockdale, Tang, Pudilo, Lucas-Wright, Chung, Horta & Wells, 2016).

System Change in Homelessness Services

The following strategic actions will be used for the implementation of strategic actions:

Using Prevention Policy: It is important that the organization adopts and implement a collaborative approach to prevent individuals and families from becoming or being homeless

Increase the Availability and Choice of Housing: It is important that the organization should also build and develop different kinds of housing to address the needs of the people who are homeless.

Providing a Single Service Point: There should be support teams, which provide or coordinate the support services to the people who are homeless and require relocation (Nelson, Stefancic, Rae, Townley, Tsemberis, Macnaughton, & Stergiopoulos, 2014). 

Establish Partnership between Community Members: The nonprofit organization should focus on establishing efforts with the community and thee government so that the existing resources and plans can be used for the implementation of the services.

The current program will adopt a recovery-oriented approach in which homelessness is aimed to be abolished by moving the people into independent ad permanent housing and later providing additional support and services. The basic principle under this program is that people should focus on development of programs. There should be active participation of the consumers of the services. The current program will assist all the people who are currently homeless (Stergiopoulos, Schuler, Nisenbaum, Guimond, Wasylenki, Hoch, & Dewa, 2015). The managers of the program will focus on developing associations between government and private entities so that housing complex can be formed for the people with different needs. The program is aimed at obtaining approval for funding from both private and public entities for developing of housing of destitute children (Macnaughton, Stefancic, Nelson, Caplan, Townley, Aubry ... & Tsemberis, 2015).

In addition to it, community awareness program will also be implemented to increase the adoption of these children. The children under the age of 16 years are in dire need of education, emotional support and   mental support. The organization can also develop programs wherein these children will be provided family support. Different families can be asked to come forward and volunteer to accept these children. They can keep the children for a specific period of time. It will positively impact on mental and social well-being of the children. The children will also be able to receive love and affection and realize what it is to live like a family (Hwang & Burns, 2014).

The program will also focus on the education of destitute children. Homeless children come from different backgrounds and educational level. It is important that an education program should be developed specifically for them so that they can be included in the mainstream education system as soon as possible.

Field Building for Homelessness Issue

Monitoring is the process to improve the performance of a program and assist the program in achieving the results. The goal of a program is to increase the output, outcomes and the impact of a program. It is used to assess the performance of an institution. It is the systematic process of the examining the relativeness, effectiveness and the efficiency of activities in terms of specific objectives. The primary objective of evaluation is to identify errors and do not repeat them again in future. It is also beneficial to provide recommendations and lessons to the project manager, teams so that the same are not repeated again. The monitoring and the evaluation of the community service programs should be driven by the information needs of users and different methods instead of the perception regarding the evaluation (Chong, Yamaki, Harwood, d'Assalenaux, Rosenberg, Aruoma, & Bishayee, , 2014). The evaluation procedures are diversified and the best method should be selected in accordance to the program. Regarding social program, the organizations most commonly use the method of answering certain questions in a systematic manner. The community based programs must be evaluated in accordance to the needs, input and the outcomes of the program. It should also monitor the process or progress of the program. It is the process of evaluating whether the program is performing according to the intended aims or specific standards. It indicates how the program is performing against the intended outcomes (Aubry, Nelson,  & Tsemberis, 2015).

In the present case, data will be collected from the consumers of the program for monitoring the efficacy of the program. There are several tools of gathering data from the consumers. The first method is to use management information system (MIS) for the evaluation of the data. The Management Information System (MIS) comprises of data regarding the daily routine of the process; therefore, it may include different information related to the program such as the participation of the staff, treatment of staff members and the cost associated with the program (Williams, 2014).

Other than that, the survey and questionnaire method can also be used to judge the efficacy of the program. In this method, survey will be conducted with the children, volunteers and teachers associated with the program. The survey will be conducted with the children to understand their needs and any other issues that thy might have with the program. It will assist the people in understanding in a better manner the issues which are faced by homeless people. Other than that, the program managers should also conduct survey with the families and the teachers associated with the system. The teachers would be able to posit the issues with the educating the students. They will also have a better understanding of the social and mental well-being of the children and provide a proper insight for their assistance. The feedbacks and recommendations provided by the professors should be used in the education and development program (Stergiopoulos et al, 2015).

Youth Participation in Education Programs

It can be critiqued that several of the children will join these programs at a later stage. The organization should develop vocational or short term job oriented programs for these people. It will assist the children immensely as they can become independent and responsible in a short term. Along with it, when these children will become independent, they will also reduce the burden from the social system.

Conclusion    

Service program are focused on the development and welfare of the society. In the present, a service program is developed to abolish homelessness of Australian youth. The present report has recommended a service program for the welfare of the youth who are on the verge of homelessness or currently homeless. The service program is focused on obtaining investment from government and the private entities. It will develop housing arrangements for the children. The children will also be provided education so that they can lead an independent life. The children will also be provided benefits in education so that they can resume their education after a prolonged period of absence. The program will also encourage family support for the overall development of the children. The family will nurture, provide love and support for the children.

In addition, it will also encourage educational and family support requirements which are essential for these people. The current program will be monitored with the survey from the children, teachers and program managers. The survey will identify the issues with the children. The children will be able to provide insight for their struggles, needs and requirements. These suggestions along with the suggestion of the teachers and other participant will be used to assist and enhance the program.

References

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Phillips, D. (2016). Consumer Participation Guide. Department for Communities and Local Government. [Online]. Available at: https://www.homelessnessnsw.org.au/sites/homelessnessnsw/files/2016-12/Consumer_Participation_Guide_with_examples.pdf [Accessed on: 22 August 2017].

Stergiopoulos, V., Schuler, A., Nisenbaum, R., Guimond, T., Wasylenki, D., Hoch, J. S., ... & Dewa, C. (2015). The effectiveness of an integrated collaborative care model vs. a shifted outpatient collaborative care model on community functioning, residential stability, and health service use among homeless adults with mental illness: a quasi-experimental study. BMC health services research, 15(1), 348.

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