In my previous post I spoke about my interview with Steven Wilson from YSAS. He told me that i should look into other youth services and their websites to get an idea of people who support/donate to them.
I liked the idea and i knew i would get some sort of idea of who supports and donates a youth service. But thinking about Kimberley’s assignment I really need to know who supports ReachOut, not gather my information from another service. (more…)
Filed under: YSAS
“YSAS will improve the health and well-being of young people affected by the use of alcohol and other drugs, through direct care, workforce development, and public policy advocacy.” - Quote from YSAS website
The Youth Substance Abuse Service (YSAS) was established in 1997 in response to the need for accessible, effective and engaging alcohol and drug interventions for young people between the ages of 12 – 21 who are experiencing significant problems with their alcohol and/or drug use.
“to continually develop leading responses to young people who engage in problematic substance use.”- YSAS mission statement
Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson or Steve as he likes to be called, has been a close friend of my father since he was 16. Steve is a social worker for YSAS, the Youth Substance Abuse Service. Steve has worked for various other Youth-related organisations in the past some of which had only a staff of 5. YSAS is the biggest organisation Steve has worked at with a staff of 140.
YSAS provides a range of youth-specific outreach, treatment, withdrawal, rehabilitation and support programs in a number of locations in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Steve’s role at YSAS is in the ‘educational research’ program, the way he explained it he trains people to help young people on drugs. He works with a lot of todays young role models for example hes been training with the Melbourne Storms on Saturdays helping them with alcohol and drug related problems they might have as well as educating them on as how to act as role models to younger generation. Steve also teaches the community about why young people are taking drugs. Most common thing parents say about the reason their children are taking drugs is because it’s seemed as ‘bad’ and they want to be seen as ‘bad’ because bad is cool. I laughed when i heard this, because this is complete bullshit. Steve agreed with me and said that kids these days arent taking ecstacy – he used this as example – to be bad but for their own reasons, some of them being the fact that it allows them to dance all night long nightclubs others do it for a adrenaline rush. (more…)
When I was researching about Community Services in Week 1 I came across this.
Its an Interesting article about Youth Drug Abuse programs failing. The article states that the Youth Drug Abuse programs ‘…were most lacking was the initial assessment of each teenager’s particular treatment needs.’ It also says despite the fact that the programs that they surveyed were designed for youth audience and are well regarded by exsperts in substance abuse treatment. (more…)
Reach Out! is a web-based service that inspires young people to help themselves through tough times.
The aim of the service is to improve young people’s mental health and well being by providing support information and referrals in a format that appeals to young people.
Reach Out! is an initiative of the Inspire Foundation (www.inspire.org.au). The mission of the Inspire Foundation is to create opportunities for young people aged 16-25 to change their world. This could be struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, wanting to do something for their local community or simply experiencing new ways to learn and grow.
