Panyappi Indigenous Youth Mentoring Program Evaluation

Panyappi Indigenous Youth Mentoring Program Evaluation
staff or other services (relationships between the program and other services will be
addressed in the “Program management themes” section).
It was very common for family members, workers in collaborating agencies and the
Panyappi staff to comment upon difficulties the young people in Panyappi had in learning
to trust someone. This was usually based on having their trust broken frequently (at
home, at school or with other services), which created barriers to taking the risk to
trust people again. Current Panyappi staff were aware that the trust they built with
young people can be fragile. Not keeping a commitment – even just being a few minutes
late without the young person knowing – could damage any progress that had been made.
MAYT workers identified that: “You have to be honest to that young person because
they have been lied to so many times….[Its] a complete challenge of the family accepting
you and the client accepting you. The hardest part is building the trust. You have to do
what you say you will do.” Family members emphasised the impact of this issue: “Lots of
agencies let kids down. If you get someone like [mentor] on a regular basis then kids
start to trust again and parents know what is happening.”
One of the collaborating agency workers explained what issues of trust meant for the
mentor’s relationship with young people:
They don’t need to be super knowledgeable about health or mental health and
welfare. They don’t have to know everything. What they do need to know is who
to talk to if they need i t,
but they have to be there for the kid. So the young
person can have a yarn to them, talk abou t what’s going on. Most of our kids are
really angry about life, the universe, they don’t really know what. They need
someone to relate to, to talk to….the young person may start sharing a little bit
and get the help that they might not have at home or at school. The mentor is
trustworthy, just listening and being there. (Program collaborator)
This person gave examples of this occurring for young people with Panyappi:
They would talk in a positive way about their mentor. They would tell us where
they were goi ng. They would say ‘I need to tal k to my mentor about that’. They
would identify another significant adult, which is what we are looking for, who is
going to be consistent and in their life to sort something. (Program collaborator)
The importance of this relationship was evident in straightforward comments from
young people who reported that being in Panyappi was good and they “felt good” about
seeing their mentor. There were excited about someone visiting and giving them focused
time where the mentor was “listening to me and I would listen to him.” There was a sense
of belonging and being special. This was expanded in family member comments, such as:
He knows that [the mentor] won’t give up on him. (Family member)
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