Youth Services in Armidale | Armidale NSW 2350

Running head: ARMIDALE NSW 2350
ARMIDALE NSW 2350
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Author Note

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Youth Services in Armidale
The council of Armidale is a committee that consists of young people whose age
ranges between twelve to twenty four years. It is the responsibility of the council to organize
youth week that is conducted in every annual year in the month of April. They have also
arranged to inaugurate regional youth awards that would promote as well as recognize the
efforts of young people along with their achievement and contribution to the community
(Wallace & Dollery 2018). This will help to motivate the individuals so that they keep
contributing in a positive way to the community. At the same time the council gives the
community an opportunity to recognize the hard work as well as dedication of the youths.
The council further supports the individuals through their services of libraries, sporting, state
park and others. Some of the services offered by armidale council are as follows- back track
youth works that helps the youth of 11-19years of age (Douglas et al., 2019). The youths who
are treated through this service are referred through different strategies such as schools, court
as well as juvenile justice. Reconnection is another service provided by Armidale for age
group of 12-18 years. This service provides service to those youths who are homeless.
Though to achieve this they collaborate with many community programme but they work
individually to get the desired outcome (Douglas et al., 2019). Furthermore these is service
relating to Boy’s Brigade who meet the youths once in a week for an hour or two depending
on the age of the boys. The service men are well trained and are given clear instructions about
the aspect of care. This service is especially organized by Armidale to attract the attention of
the youths. It also teaches them new skills and gives them physical, spiritual, educational as
well as social training so that they can improve themselves. As youths move up the ladder of
Boy’s Brigade the activities become more wide as well adventurous. It also become more
challenging than before where people get greater rewards (Douglas et al., 2019). Armidale
further provides care for people who are suffering from mental health. People going through

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mental aid can come to their organisation and get the benefit of the services that the
organisation provides to every individual. This service may include counselling where the
patients will be given the necessary advice from the mentors. Youth are also given training
regarding cultural awareness. Thus the services that are discussed above are provided by
Armidale for youths that would benefit them in the long run. When a call was given to the
council coordinator he replied that the council is not engaged in any direct programs for
youth instead they collaborate with other agencies who are working for the betterment of the
youths (Wallace, Dollery & Thi 2019).
Youth Concerns
While giving services to youth there were certain concerns of the youths that were
highlighted and brought to light. One of the major concern of the youths in Armidale is
unemployment. Employment enables the youths to socialize as well as help them to be
independent. However, unemployment is increasingly growing in Armidale. The Backtrack
services in Armidale have helped more than one hundred and eighty youths across the district
by giving them training so that they will be able to get a good job as well as a reasonable pay
(Knight et al., 2017). One of the reasons for unemployment among youths is that due to
online shopping sales assistance have been completely wiped out that leads to unemployment
among this generation. Therefore, Armidale councilor had to establish low-medium and light
industrial jobs for the youths who were unemployed. The services that are provided by
Armidale are unable to address the issue of unemployment efficiently. Secondly while
offering services to the needy it was observed that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
in Armidale were also going through the issue of substance abuse, poor health care facilities,
poor education as well as high risk of physical and mental illness (Bartik, Maple & McKay
2020). It was also notices that many of the community members did not trust and listen to the

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service providers and were reluctant to seek the help from the services that was offered by
Armidale council. While the services were being delivered it was also found that many
people especially women as well as children were going through domestic violence. The
violence naturally disturbed the mental health of the person as a result of which the youths
were not able to do the daily tasks efficiently (Wark et al., 2018). They further became more
hesitant towards others. Unemployment, poor health as well as family violence led to suicidal
thoughts among youths that were realized during the process of training as well as service
that were being provided to the youths.
Social Worker Plan
A social worker after reading and observing the above concerns can make as well as
implement a lot of plans to solve the existing situation in Armidale. For instance to promote
as well as ensure better health among the youths as well as older adults in Armidale the social
worker can arrange for grants by organizing meaningful programs that would help in giving
training to the mental illness of youths. Awareness regarding the reasons that leads to mental
illness will be told to them so that the youths as well as their family members can take
precautions from before (Colby & Dziegielewski 2016). Positive training as well as regular
workshops should be conducted among the youths to ensure good results. The workshops will
further reduce the mental stress as well as tensions by giving them comprehensive
information about the concerned areas. The youths can further learn the strategies and gain
knowledge that will help them to spread the awareness. A social worker can further urge and
force the federal, local as well as the state government to provide for more jobs and at the
same time provide unemployment benefits especially for those who are not getting a job for a
very long time (Kunze & Suppa 2017). Social workers can give advice to people for being
self-employed that would provide them with money and on the other hand it would also solve

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the problem of unemployment. By solving the issue of unemployment a social worker will
help in reducing the suicidal tendencies that are present in the youths due to their
unemployment. They can also advice the youth on how his/her self-change can become a
factor for his employment (Maxton & Randers 2016). They can also make the person aware
about the loopholes in the government policies that has led to unemployment so that people
stop blaming themselves and stop thinking about committing suicides. The social workers
can also offer people with employment skills that may act as a hindrance in the employment
of the concerned person. They can also advice individuals with alternatives regarding
employment. The social worker can also make an effort to know about the job-seeking
process of an individual and help him to find his desired job with ease (Maxton & Randers
2016). They are the ones who will be able to help the person to get employed by organizing
seminars and asking for more employment opportunities from the government.
In search Organisation
Youth in search organisation is a place that is devoted to young people whose age
ranges from fourteen to twenty years. The programme has helped more than thirty two
thousand youths and helped them to rebuild their lives from the year 1985. They also work
towards helping one thousand youths per year across Armidale (Thraves & Bannister, 2017).
The organisation helps in empowering the young people to take decisions about their lives,
helps them in growing their self-esteem so that they will be able to play a constructive role in
the society. Due to the above programme the suicidal tendencies among youths have
considerably reduced to 65% (Thraves, G., & Bannister, 2017). Weekend workshop is
another dimension under youth insearch organisation that gives a chance to the youths to talk
about their feelings as well as the challenges that they face in their daily lives. They can also
talk about the challenges that they face with their peers that helps the organisation to guide

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them so that every individual can help others to solve their problem (Turner, 2016). This will
further instill a feeling of harmony. Furthermore the youth insearch organisation also
provides for an option of support groups where regular meetings with the youths are held that
will help them to build a positive support from their peer groups and will also help the youths
to build a strong network with young people in the local areas where they live (Wright,
2016). Throughout the programme that are organized by insearch organisation, the youths are
continuously taught as well as mentored by adults who support and advice the youths to work
efficiently (Lau et al., 2016). The above programmes will help the youths to deal with the
issue of unemployment as well as help them to find other alternatives for employment. It will
further improve the metal as well as physical health of the youths that is affected by
unemployment. The programmes will further improve the mental health conditions of the
youth who are going through domestic violence as there will be peers with whom they will be
able to share their problems and who would support them that would automatically build
confidence in the youths.

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References
Bartik, W. J., Maple, M., & McKay, K. (2020). Youth suicide bereavement and the
continuum of risk. Crisis.
Colby, I., & Dziegielewski, S. F. (2016). Introduction to social work: The people’s
profession. Lyceum Books.
Douglas, L. J., Jackson, D., Woods, C., & Usher, K. (2019). Rewriting stories of trauma
through peer‐to‐peer mentoring for and by at‐risk young people. International journal
of mental health nursing, 28(3), 744-756.
Knight, A., Havard, A., Shakeshaft, A., Maple, M., Snijder, M., & Shakeshaft, B. (2017). The
Feasibility of Embedding Data Collection into the Routine Service Delivery of a
Multi-Component Program for High-Risk Young People. International journal of
environmental research and public health, 14(2), 208.
Kunze, L., & Suppa, N. (2017). Bowling alone or bowling at all? The effect of
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Lau, C., Ford, J., Van Lieshout, R. J., Saperson, K., McConnell, M., & McCabe, R. (2016).
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Thraves, G., & Bannister-Tyrrell, M. (2017). Australian Aboriginal peoples and giftedness: A
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