With the amalgamation of three Councils in 1997, the new City of Onkaparinga decided to define its role in relation to youth issues and to provide a guide for Council’s work in the area of youth development. The research culminated in the establishment of the Onkaparinga Youth Development Model in 1999.
The primary aims of the Model are to develop community dialogue and participation and to encourage the development of integrated services. It involved the employment of a Youth Officer, running various Youth Forums and establishing a number of Youth Resource Centres.
“This strategy had the added advantage of providing the community and the youth services sector with a clear understanding of the Model in its simplest form,” said Council’s Community Development Officer Youth, Leanne McPhee.
As the community and sector stakeholders began to actively interact with the Model, a natural evolution emerged.
“As originally anticipated, the Model developed its own dynamism, and the original static interpretation needed to be re-evaluated and revised. This resulted in the 2002 Youth Development Model,” Leanne McPhee said. “This Model is a catalyst for change. As agencies interact and generate new methodologies for their services, there has been a positive developmental effect on local young people. This in turn has created a resurgence of hope in the community that optimistic, empowered young people give to a society.
Council has called this dynamic interaction between youth services, the community and young people, coupled with the changing attitudes throughout the community ‘capacity for enterprise’.
“This model will deliver the integrated outcomes that have eluded so many organisations,” Leanne McPhee said. “The clear articulation of the Model, with evidence of project and strategic success, can be considered welcome news for those organisations struggling to move out of silo thinking into integrated management planning.”
For further information, contact Leanne McPhee on (08) 8384 0762.
