Mentoring youths towards a bright future

Cairns Safer Streets has its focus on the Cairns West area, which is comprised of three major neighbourhoods: Mooroobool, Manunda, and Manoora. The government and community members run the SPAYC+PLACE program in the parks and outside gathering places in these neighbourhoods. From sports to structured games, the program uses engaging activities to create opportunities for mentorship and impact.

“These neighbourhoods have very high cultural diversity, including recently arrived refugees,” Glenn says. “This area also has two schools, Trinity Bay State High School and Cairns West State School, where most of the kids go. There are a lot of young people here and a lot of factors that contribute to the area’s low-socioeconomic status.”

After waiting for COVID-19 restrictions to ease, as well as memorandums of understanding between government departments to be established, the SPAYC+PLACE evaluation started in February 2021.

“I was really excited to be a part of this project because it involved young people who are at-risk, potentially, of disengaging from school, of going into crime, and who may be coming from dysfunctional family situations," Glen says. “Potentially is the key here, because environmental factors have the potential to lead young people to the road of criminal behaviour. But community members mentoring and engaging with young people can help them find paths to healthier lifestyles and empowerment.”

One of the programs that Glenn is the most passionate about is SPAYC +. It focuses on at-risk young people who have been referred to the program by their high school, parents or other contacts, and who may be on the verge of rejecting their education or adopting criminal behaviours.

“This program provides these young people with opportunities three nights per week to go out with program members and volunteers on things like fishing trips or hiking tracks,” Glenn says. “It seems simple, but while they’re doing that, there’s a lot of mentoring going on. Although the activities and sporting opportunities help engage the young people, mentorship is the strongest aspect of the program.”

The youths who are a part of the SPAYC + program can then be chosen for the next stage called SPAYC Cadets. The program members carefully choose up to 15 youths from SPAYC + who are responsive and engaging and they do a six-month intensive program around leadership and mentorship.

“Different professionals come in and talk to the youths and mentor them. Often it leads these young people on pathways to jobs or study or sporting opportunities. So far, it has a 100 per cent success rate, with no one dropping out. Every individual has gone all the way through to graduation, even in its third rendition."

Glenn says it has been fantastic to see the successes of the youths after graduating from the program. “One particular girl had been struggling with her learning and was about to drop out of school when she entered this program. Now she’s working at the Jonathan Thurston Institute. Another girl has gone on to do modelling in Sydney. Other youths have gone on to university or various forms of employment,” Glenn says.

Seeing young people’s empowerment through the program, Glenn hopes the evaluations can provide additional insights into how person-oriented approaches to youth behaviour can create new life pathways and opportunities.. “Hopefully programs like this can be done in other places, and this program can be re-funded next year. It’ll be bigger, better and more effective than it already is.”

Want to know more about the many programs of SPAYC+PLACE? Find out about the projects they’re currently running or get involved in making a difference to the young people in our communities.