Eleven young people on the Gold Coast are working their way towards a brighter future as Transition 2 Success (T2S) launches in the region today.
Minister for Youth Di Farmer officially launched the successful program on the Gold Coast today as she visited students to see firsthand how they are progressing with the Certificate II in Foundation Skills.
“We know T2S works to reduce offending and reoffending, and get young people into education and the workforce,” Ms Farmer said.
“These eleven young peoples will join the more than 400 young people who have already graduated from T2S programs in Queensland, and more than 95 per cent of them have gone on to get a job or moved into further education.
“Importantly, almost 6 out of 10 graduates don’t go on to reoffend within six months of doing a T2S program which is exactly the sort of result we want to see.
“This is the first group of young people to enrol in the program here on the Gold Coast and what we’ve found is that T2S graduates often go on to mentor subsequent cohorts of young people – not just turning their own lives around, but helping to change the story for other young people.”
The T2S program provides training opportunities to young people who have dropped out of or are at risk of leaving school, and those who have had contact with youth justice.
Ms Farmer said new participants on the Gold Coast included a number of high risk young people who have enrolled in the program because they are ready to learn new skills.
“We have one young man who has sought out this program for a number of months, during court processes and while engaging with his case worker, continually asking when the program was due to start,” she said.
“He’s nearly 19 years of age, dropped out of school just before completing Year 12 and has struggled with ongoing homelessness and substance misuse issues.
“He now hopes to get his education back on track and complete his Certificate.”
Ms Farmer said young people involved in T2S are often struggling with social disadvantage, exposure to domestic violence, drug abuse and unstable parenting as well as intergenerational unemployment.
“Gold Coast Youth Justice have worked closely with a number of local community partners over the last few years to assist young people transition into employment, training and further education, and the T2S program will build on these successes,” she said.
“As well as earning some basic qualifications, T2S helps connect young people with other support services to help them stay on track like housing or drug and alcohol services.
“I look forward to returning for their graduation ceremonies in December and seeing how these young people respond to the program.”
T2S currently operates in 10 locations around the state – Aurukun, Townsville, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Caboolture, Sunshine Coast, Western Districts, Ipswich and Logan – and will expanded to a further 10 sites.
