Comfort Food

This week went by so fast and really didn't give me too much of a break to blog, so I'm putting things together best I can. It was funny when I was looking back on the past few days it was hard to even to quite remember what happened on each day. I am finding that how Eileen told me that things were going to pick up a lot this week; they really have.
Some of the same stuff as Monday in regards to emailing youth and asking them to come by so they can discuss times they would like to have their group and content they would be interested in exploring over this next term.

But as well learning different parts of paperwork pieces that are needed to do the work. Eileen went over how they set up program plans and how to set goals for the project before even starting the groups but also talked about how important it was to have involvement from the group before you are able to finish a program plan as the whole idea of the programming is for it to be something the youth want to learn about and need more information on. It's no use trying to get youth to come take part in a group that doesn't cover topics that at least have some appeal to the young people because they will just not show up.

Eileen also explained what kind of content would be used in groups and the type of work they are trying to do with the youth. Eileen took time throughout the day to explain the little pieces of the project and tie them back to the overall bigger picture of the project and the goals set for them by their funders and how they make it work for themselves as youth workers and play with it to make the funding agenda fit for the youth.

There is a lot to be said for passionate workers who advocate for the needs of the youth and the young people they are working. I have been thrilled to see so many workers at the centre for whom this is their main goal, to meet the young people where they are at and help them build-up the areas they feel they need to build in creative ways to meet funding requirements. So much of what we do can not be written or put on paper.. so much of what being a great practitioner is about is not only about what makes a good report, but it all that work that goes into being relational.

More youth came into the centre and hung out around using the computer to work on their CVs or working on last minute grant applications for materials they would need to start post secondary school. I took part in a FAN meeting to talk about what is going on for this year with the groups and how they were going to set up schedules. Each group normally has one fully time FAN worker and then a CE worker as support. If the groups need extra support or are big in numbers there is an opportunity to get two FAN workers and a CE on some evenings. Normally a group is made up of 4 to 8 youth. The FAN group has told me a good size is five but they have had some as large as ten. The groups can be mixed genders but often have been divided based on gender and age depending on the needs of the group. FAN groups are created by the FAN group getting referrals from the JLO (haha.. OK not that funny), Juvenile Leasion Officer, of youth who have offended, meaning committed some sort of crime (often petty crime such as minor theft and vandalism to possession, drug or alcohol use, joy riding, and assault). These are then known as the primary targets. They then will take secondary targets as well. Often these are young people who they socialize with (through peers or family), are at high risk of offending, or just have not been caught. Secondary referral can come from schools, parents, community services, or often are just invited by primary targets to come join as it is often a option given to them to help encourage young people to join groups. When a referral is made it is still voluntary. No youth has to attend as part of probation or anything like that, but I have been told that it does 'look good' and can be put as a term of taking part in their community. That way if youth engage, do not engage, or disengage after they have accessed services this information is all tracked and put into monthly reports. Youth are also offered one to one support or access to the drop-in centre as a way to support them in other ways if they are not interested in groups.
In the evening one of the girls groups showed up to talk about setting up their time and about topics they would like to cover. I really enjoyed this group because of the energy these young women give off and how engaged they are in the program. All the members showed up and it was really amazing to see a group somewhat in action. All the girls are so different from each other but yet have huge connections and similarities. They all engaged in different ways as well. This group really made me feel welcome and had a million questions about me, Canada, the placement, etc. One of the things the girls decided to do was they wanted to make me coddle. Have you heard of it? I hadn't until then, but I have been told it is a huge Dublin thing. It started by them asking me about my favourite meals. Coddle was a favourite of a number of the girls and they talked about how it really is just comfort food. They explained to me that coddle is kinda like a stew but cheaper, easy-to-access cuts of meat would be used and it would be cooked in a white sauce. What would be some good ideas for Canadian comfort meals that aren't stolen from another culture? I was think I could maybe do bannock with the girls, but I’m not sure what else. But ya.. anyways so I’m excited about working with these girls and really feel like I was able to do some relationship building and and got a better idea of what happens in group and the work you can do. I am also very excited to try Coddle.