In 2021, Youth Insearch and youth homelessness service Reconnect established a partnership to enable Youth Insearch to place a social worker in the area to support young people in the Hervey Bay region.

Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre’s youth services hub, Reconnect Youth Centre, runs the Reconnect program with an aim to work with young people aged 12 to 18 who are at risk of homelessness. This program assists young people who remain in their family home to overcome conflict, strengthen communication and work through the challenges of their changing family role. 

Connect with Reconnect

Youth Insearch Social Worker, Alectra Hancox, briefs young people referred by Reconnect Youth Centre and offers engagement in weekly peer support groups, both virtually and face-to-face, where they are supported by other young people with lived experience of trauma. 

Alectra said her focus would be on supporting and working with local young people experiencing adversity in their lives.

“My experience in working with diverse young people and their families in remote and regional areas of Australia has given me a strong understanding that all people need connection to positive role models. It is so important to instill hope and use strengths-based practices, to increase resilience when young people experience adversity.”

Youth Insearch has found that when social workers assist young people in a single community, they are able to provide tailored support to each young person on a one-on-one basis and connect them with appropriate support services. 

CONNECT WITH YOUTH INSEARCH

Supporters of the social worker partnerships in Queensland include Hand Heart Pocket the Charity of Freemasons Queensland, the Tenix Foundation and the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, who will be funding Youth Insearch in its transition to the social worker model and seven new social worker positions in Queensland over the next three years.