Youth program gutted to two staff
The good news is the John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington and Area has managed to scrape together enough funding to keep two front-line staff in its at-risk youth program going for eight months. The bad news is that it’s losing 11 front-line workers — at least until it can secure new funding, which hopefully will be next spring.
The Youth at Risk Development (YARD) program began in 2013 with a one-time, five-year provincial grant that runs out Aug. 1 to tackle youth and gang violence. The program offers “unconditional” support to young people involved with or at risk of becoming involved with the gang lifestyle and has had significant success.
Hamilton’s John Howard team has been fighting for months to secure more funding, lobbying government, meeting with school boards and appealing to #saveYARD on social media.
The near dismantling of the team, which has grown over the years to be the go-to agency for police, schools and community members when a young person is in trouble, has been “awful ... absolutely horrific,” said executive director Ruth Greenspan.
What’s worse is how the loss is affecting the youth in YARD. “It’s been difficult for the youth, they understand what is happening,” she said.
The two positions remaining are funded through until next March thanks to a combination of money from the Hamilton Community Foundation, a funding partnership through the City of Hamilton’s youth program Xperience Annex and expected funding from local school boards, she said.
The cuts mean YARD will no longer be able to provide group sessions, its mentorship or be able to respond as quickly. It will still take referrals and do case management with youth in crisis, but it may not always be able to react as quickly, Greenspan said. It will be more reactionary and not as proactive.
During an open house in May, Hamilton East MP Bob Bratina and Mayor Fred Eisenberger both attended to voice support, and Bratina sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale calling for funding.
Greenspan said it has only been through politicians’ letters that they received any response from the ministry. A response letter lauded the work of YARD, but said there just wasn’t funding available now. A new call for proposals is expected to open up more funding for next April. Greenspan said it will apply and hope to be able to secure more funding to hire more staff then.
Greenspan is also exploring possible funding partnerships through the Local Health Integration Network. Many of the hundreds of youth who’ve gone through YARD have had mental health or addiction issues, and John Howard already has a good working relationship with health-care agencies for referrals. There has been an outpouring of community support throughout the #saveYARD campaign that has been very comforting for staff and clients. “I think the community outpouring of support has been really amazing,” Greenspan said.
Of the 11 YARD workers losing their jobs, all have found other work, with some being absorbed into other positions at John Howard, some getting outside jobs and some going back to school.