Posted by The crisis intervention program aims at supporting young people who have experienced a major personal crisis in their lifetimes such as eviction, suicide, homelessness, depression, and drug abuse either on a prolonged or occasional basis. These groups of youth are at a potential risk of dropping out of the program, and eventually the education system. Crisis intervention is needed to ensure that young people who are marginalized are continuously included in the education and training program through the provision of dedicated aftercare support services. It also aims at empowering the youth to be more proactive in their lives, and their communities. The long-term goal is to enhance the employability of the youth enabling them to overcome the challenge of socio-economic deprivation and poverty that they are currently experiencing. The project is highly necessary since the youth who left school early are not expected to participate and stay in the training program without sufficient support for managing their own personal and domestic situations. The project targets the youth who are at the margins of an already marginalized group comprising of the most disadvantaged early school leavers whose complex nature of their community context and family lives suffer from live crises occasionally or on a prolonged basis (Ungar, Michael, Linda and Janice 10-16).
Mission statement for your organization
Youthreach is a regional support program that offers a second-chance to educate and train early school leavers who never attained formal qualifications. The program provides trainees with skills, knowledge, and attitude that are crucial in transitioning to work and adult life, as well as full participation in the community. There are various core subjects offered at the center. The course has national accreditation, and also offers other activities in addition to the provided subjects with the aim of developing the self-confidence, skills, and competencies that are vital for further learning, adult and work life.
The service area of your organization (city, town, regional, nationwide, etc.).
The crisis management program is one of its kind in the region since there is no similar program in the area. The Youthreach is a regional support center that aims at offering socio-economic empowerment of the young people in the region. The support center has other sub-branches within the region. The subunits are strategically positioned in various locations to tap the youths who have left school and make them become responsible and useful individuals in the society.
Type/types of crisis/ crises to which you will respond.
A crisis refers to a crucial turning point that is characterized by difficulty or distress. Experiencing a crisis can enable a person to encounter issues and make positive changes. The practice of social work defines crisis as an upset in a steady state. Crises are considered to self-limiting since they have a start, middle and an end. The initial stage is characterized by the rise in tension due to the reaction to the effect of stress. It leads to the habitual approach to problem resolution. A failure in the first effort may contribute to the rising of tension. The final phase involved the use of new techniques. In the final phase, the problem may be avoided or redefined as less threatening. Crisis intervention aims at returning an individual to a steady state (Hepworth, Dean, Ronald, Glenda and Kim 7).
According to the model of therapeutic crisis intervention (CTI), there are two main types of crisis. They include situational, post-traumatic and maturational crisis. Situational crisis refers to the daily events or major events that are capable of triggering crises in young people. They include being left out of a sports team, starting a program, family row, and having to find work experience. Although these events can trigger stress in young people, it is possible to anticipate them with the aim of taking an appropriate intervention. Maturation crisis occurs when a young person moves from one stage of development to another. Problems in a relationship, expectations, and complying with the stipulated rules and regulations can be stressful. At this state, social workers should take the opportunity to assist young people in learning and growing. A post-traumatic crisis occurs during the period of transition in the life of an individual (France 3-7).
Intervention services that you will provide
A socio-cognitive and psychological approach will be used in addressing the unique needs of the trainees at the Youthreach center. A sense of fear, panic, and alienation can be brought back or re-surface from unfinished traumatic events in the past. Crises form part and parcel of human experience since they occur through the course of life and not necessarily due to illness or tragic/unusual event. They form part of the natural human development and maturation. Teenage is usually a sensitive period that is characterized by fluctuating emotions as a child transits to an adult. The teenage crisis is defined as the desperate search for self-identity in which self-esteem emerges to become a major issue. Some of the trainees at Youthreach center have several self-esteem issues and more than normal teenage identity due to lack of support networks, or the inability to make use of the existing social networks. The clientele for the crisis intervention program is a unique group since they have additional problems that made them leave school early. The problems that may have contributed their school drop-out include unstable family background, drinking and drug abuse, and bullying (Myer, Craig, Melinda, Jamie, Kelley, and Nickole 7-12).
Each experiences a different crisis from another person. In the context of Youthreach, crisis redefined by the trainees themselves. A trainee may experience a personal crisis such as being cheated on by a girlfriend. This may not be considered as a crisis by the staff, but a normal part of growth. The perspective of the staff is vital in the identification and responding to a crisis in the Youthreach center. A crisis is explored based on the ability of the trainees to determine their definitions of crisis, as well as their capacity to negotiate appropriate intervention approach with the staff, and the crisis support team (Ungar, Michael, Linda and Janice 19).
There are many predicaments in the life of an individual that could be described as a crisis. Carrying out a brief analysis of the various situations facing trainees at the Youthreach center and their degree of severity is vital in coming up with an effective crisis management plan. The access to efficient support system and personal resilience are important in influencing the outcome of crisis intervention program. The factors that have an effect on any type of trauma include: the personal circumstances of an individual; support network; the life experience of a person; the ability to confide in others; the capacity to seek help; and the involvement of the client in alienated peer youth network (Myer et al 22).
Intervention mode (face to face, telephone, or online), and why you selected this mode.
The main mode of intervention is face to face, but telephone mode can also be used in follow-up and arranging for counseling sessions. Face to face intervention is the most appropriate mode since it enables the trainees to physically interact with the crisis intervention team with the aim of diagnosing the problem and come up with the most appropriate solution for crisis resolution. Unlike telephone and online mode, face to face mode has associated with a minimal interruption due to low risk and uncertainty. The face to face intervention gives each crisis support worker the opportunity to identify the unique crisis facing a particular trainee, and suggest appropriate crisis intervention strategy. The crisis intervention team involves the trainee in focus group discussion and interview with the aim of addressing their problems (Kanel 11).
Resources required to set up the crisis intervention program (use your imagination)
Crisis intervention team is made up individuals who are organized with the aim working together as a unit implement the designated duties that are defined in the crisis plan. The core team comprises of mental health professionals, counselors, Youthreach trainers and staff, and community professionals. Physical facilities include the buildings for hosting crisis intervention session with the Youthreach centers, as well as other community referral and rehabilitation centers. Financial resources is required to hire professional in social and psychological aspect of youth development and growth
Personnel requirements for your organization, including qualifications
The program will require some personnel that includes social workers, counselors, mental health nurses, psychologists, medical physicians, and the respective staffs of the Youthreach center. All the professionals should have a qualification of at least a diploma in their respective field, and a minimum of three years’ work experience.
Training program for responders. This should be a detailed outline and explanation of your training program.
The training program aims at empowering the trainees to be in a better position to cope with crises in their life. It involves various approaches such as exploring the strategies of stress management; understanding crisis, and how individuals behave in a crisis situation; learning preventive and non-physical intervention skills during a crisis; the development of de-escalation skills; and learning safety in situations that are physically explosive. The establishment of crisis management is based on several premises. The first premise is that there is a meaning behind all behaviors, and is an attempt to satisfy a need. The second premise is that a parent-child relationship is important in providing opportunities for the youth to learn and exercise appropriate ways of expressing feelings, meeting needs, and managing daily tasks. The third premise is that it essential to encourage individual engage in aggressive action to exercise self-control. The main objective of the crisis intervention program is accelerating positive change in the trainees at the Youthreach center, providing good models on how to stay calm during crisis, exercising self-control and ability to make a good decision, and learning something about one another (Myer et al. 15-17).
Most of the Youthreach trainees have experienced chronic deficits in the provision of effective support and guidance during their childhood. In most cases, there are no clearly set limitation and boundaries for behavior. Various forms of support such as parental, health and safety, and health may have been inadequate on the intellectual, emotional and social life of the child. The trainees in the program are young people who were allowed to leave school before meeting their needs and self-identity. Therefore, the society labels them as a failure. Most trainees at the center become homeless early in life. The trainees have behavioral problems, are alienated, have a low self-esteem and a sense of rejection. The backgrounds of some trainees are not suitable for proper growth and development of a person. The backgrounds include domestic violence, parental alcohol abuse, intergenerational unemployment, parental abandonment, and emotional deprivation. A good number of the trainees have undergone through the painful process of being thrown away from communities where they spend their early life. Many trainees are socially complex and disadvantage scenarios that have been worsened by the effect of intergenerational trauma that has remained unresolved. Although poor parenting is often believed to be the main contributing factor to poor life experience, it is vital to note that most parents respond to difficult situations, and may have undergone similar experiences making it an intergenerational cycle ((Ungar, Michael, Linda and Janice 22-26).
The trainees can be in a better position to deal with the difficult situation if there is a good support network. Parents should always be in a better position to understand and prepare to resolve issues affecting their children so that crisis can develop less frequently. Consistent involvement and support from parents are crucial for the growth and development of a child. Trainees can cope with difficulty in life if they have established a good network of extended family and friends. Trainees are likely to find it difficult to resolve issue effectively if there is little contact with the extended family, and parents have little understanding of the situation. When lack of social support system is coupled with the impact of social exclusion, trainees experience crisis and find it hard to cope with the situations (Kanel 29).
Local/community agencies with whom you will partner to provide comprehensive services to your clients.
The crisis intervention program will be rolled out in conjunction with other organizations and institutions such as the Ministry concerned with youth affairs, Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC), mental health agencies, various youth support and rehabilitation centers, vocational training facilities in the region, child right organizations, children research center, and community stakeholders from which the trainees come from.