Making the Connection

IN the wake of recent figures showing an increase in local unemployment figures, a new initiative is hoping to stop some of the youngest casualties of the jobless rate from falling through the cracks. The aptly named 'Connections' program aims to re-connect young people with education and employment opportunities and was launched this week in Wollongong by The Southern Youth and Family Services Association. The association's CEO, Narelle Clay, said the program's goal was to help 13-19 year-olds who have been disconnected from schooling for to gain access to education, training or employment. She said that local youth who had previously dropped out of school needed an avenue of opportunity to provide them with a second chance. “The youth unemployment rate in the area is very high,” she said. “Young people who have left school early are twice as likely to be unemployed than secondary completers and in addition there is also a lack of secure full-time positions available to young people in the area and competition is high.” Ms Clay said many of the area's needy young people don't even attend school. “Many young people who become homeless, unemployed or disconnected from their support networks including those who enter the Juvenile Justice system are young people for whom the mainstream educational system did not meet their needs and was not able to maintain (them),” she said. “Many young people amongst those this organisation works with have experienced problems at school, have left of their own accord, have been suspended or expelled.” The Connections program will be delivered with the help of TAFE, who will provide training on SYFS premises as well as TAFE's while SYFS workers will provide complimentary activities and personal support. Ms Clay said existing services don't have the level of “flexibility, tolerance and perseverance” needed to cater for young people with multiple barriers in their path to education. The program will be delivered to the most 'at risk' people between 13-19 in the Illawarra. Wollongong's unemployment rate recently rose to nearly 9 percent.