Panyappi Indigenous Youth Mentoring Program Evaluation

Panyappi Indigenous Youth Mentoring Program Evaluation
At the same time, they were aware the effort was worth it once they got past families’
initial cautiousness and trust started to build: ”I find that a lot of the families are really
funny about FAYS because they have had a lot of bad experiences with them, so you
really have to work with the family members because they see us all as one, not
individuals. For the first couple of weeks working with the client, it’s really hard to
engage with the family members, let alone the client, but when you start building a good
relationship with them it’s excellent” (Panyappi staff).
Other program collaborators and Advisory Group members talked about the importance
of “respite” for families who are often stressed and in crisis while trying to support
young people whose behaviour is difficult, often in response to family stress and crises.
It can create a break in the vicious cycle they are in. They reinforced the value of a
family-inclusive approach, for example: “It is good for the family as well, getting the
young person back to school, getting the family involved and bringing the family back
together.” Some recognised that there are times when Panyappi can engage families
better than they can, and were happy to support that and take a background role in
order to facilitate a more culturally appropriate response.
Connections with schooling
Although Susie is attending school more regularly she has frequent clashes with
teachers about completing her work and her level of attention in classes. Susie
agrees for her mentor and the Coordinator to meet with the School Principal,
AEW and her main teacher. Susie doesn’t want to be at the meeting but asks her
Mum to go, who agrees, and Panyappi helps to organise childcare for the younger
ones. The school gains more information about the situation for Susie and what
is getting in the way of her learning and ability to complete or concentrate on
her work. They also learn about the racist teasing that Susie receives from
other kids in the yard. They find out that Susie has started to see a counsellor
and that through Panyappi’s work, her Mum is also receiving personal support
from another service so she copes better and can move forward with addressing
the violence at home.
This expanded understanding helps the teacher and School Principal to agree on
a different approach to responding to Susie in class, rather than assuming she is
lazy or incapable, and avoid her getting suspended. They also agree to use some
of their curriculum materials around bullying to help address the issues in the
yard. In this way Susie may experience the teachers being more supportive and
understanding. Panyappi offers to arrange access to a tutorial program
connected to MAYT, their auspicing agency, to help Susie catch up on work that
she has missed over the last two years so that she can have more positive
experiences in class and feel like she is able to complete class work and
homework.
Every young person involved with Panyappi has had a difficult time with mainstream
schooling. The disconnection from schooling may have been due to schools not identifying
specific learning difficulties earlier in a child’s schooling, or reading them as behavioural
problems and offering the wrong response. Young people get further and further behind
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