Projet de qualification des jeunes (PQJ)

1) Category:
Specific program

2) Issues Behind the Program:

Most teens in youth centers are destitute (weak social network, long history of social service intervention, etc.). These young people exhibit vulnerability that hinders their social and vocational integration. They need customized services above and beyond those offered by youth centers in order to overcome the obstacles to their independent living.

3) Objectives:
Help young people in youth centers make the transition to independent living and help them obtain qualifications in order to increase their likelihood of a socially fulfilling life. Prevent their marginalization when they reach the age of majority and are no longer eligible for Youth Services. Get 75% of these teens into the workforce or give them adequate training to do so. Establish support and assistance networks for teens exiting youth centers. Prompt the community to get involved and to pool the available resources for giving these teens the support they need. Make the teens and their family accountable for the teens steps towards independence and successful social and vocational integration.

4) Environment:
Community (youth centers, employers, employment centers, community organizations, etc.)

5) Target Group:
Teens from 16 to 18 years old with special needs in terms of their transition to independent living

6) Key Words:
Projet de qualification des jeunes, PQJ, coeuraction, school-family-community partnership, specific program, youth center, social and vocational integration, accountability, job search, independence, marginalization, social integration, labour market, health and social services

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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7) Description:
Projet de qualification des jeunes (PQJ) is an intensive, three-year, three-pronged intervention program consisting of: preparation for the transition to independent living; qualifications leading to employment; and creation of a support network. By participating in the program, teens: o o o o gain an understanding of the adult world through individual and group activities; acquire self-sufficiency in various fields of activity: everyday tasks, housing, financial responsibility, social skills, personal care; acquire skills and tap into their aptitudes in striving for social and vocational integration; forge relationships with the people important to them in various parts of their life.

One of the keys to the program is creation of a network of community partners under seven themes: o o o o o o training (e.g. school board, companies offering on-the-job training); employment (e.g. carrefour jeunesse-emploi, local employment centers); housing (e.g. assistance in finding housing, emergency shelter); health and social services (e.g. Centre de sant et de services sociaux (CSSS), social workers, advocacy organizations); justice (e.g. Legal Aid); miscellaneous resources (e.g. Association cooprative dconomie familiale (ACEF), food security).

8) Steps:
I. The first step is to complete the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment. This tool is used twice a year by the same program worker (who knows the participant very well and interacts with him/her every day). The questionnaire and the analysis are available free of charge at the Casey Life Skills website. Once the ACLSA is completed online, an individual report is transmitted. o o o The report summarizes the results by life skill area and the 13 responses to each statement. The results indicate the strengths and the points that could be improved for the different areas. After discussing the results, the teen and the educator work together to choose the areas on which they could work and for which they could set achievable goals using the Life Skills Guidebook that groups the skills into domains. The Guide was translated by ACJQ and the French version is called Guide dapprentissage de lautonomie fonctionnelle.

II.

III.

Based on the results of the assessment, and with a view to defining goals and ways of achieving them, the teen works with the PQJ educator to craft an action plan customized to the teens particular situation. The plan makes it possible for the PQJ worker to tailor the action undertaken to the teens initiatives. The PQJ worker backs the teen in his/her initiatives (e.g. requests for information and meetings with the organizations).

IV. V.

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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9) Activities/Actions:
Three strategies are used: 1) formation of a team specialized in preparing teens for the transition to independent living and in helping them become qualified for the workforce and for a productive life within the society; 2) early and intensive intervention with teens; and 3) community support after the teens have reached the age of majority. The educator personally refers the teens to the person or resource able to bridge to the support they will receive as adults. Throughout the process, the educator takes into account the teens educational level and keeps tabs on their learning curve to enable them to acquire more confidence in their abilities and aptitudes. Various resources are pressed into the service of these goals: o o o Les Matines jeunesse: Information about community resources. Bottins des ressources jeunesse: Directory of organizations that provide services to young people age 16 to 19 in a given geographical area. Transfert des apprentissages: Information and follow-up workshops at which PQJ educators share the PQJs philosophy and tools with youth center workers.

10) Resources Required:

Human resources: o o Program educators Community partners

11) Roles of the Participants:

The PQJ worker/educator: o o o o o o helps teens to gain more confidence in their abilities and aptitudes while taking their level of education into account; follows up; works personally with the teens; backs the teens in their initiatives; helps them acquire the life skills that will empower them to become productive adults when they are no longer eligible for the services offered by youth centers; offers his/her services to youth center educators and to every teen served by each of the centers. commit to the program; create ties with the program; respond to the needs of the teens; ensure the personal and social development of these teens. make the partners aware of the lives of the teens involved in the program; craft alliances within the communities.

The community partners: o o o o

The program managers: o o

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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12) Scientific Basis or Validity:

Program assessment revealed that, generally speaking, the teens self-sufficiency improved significantly during PQJ and that this improvement was maintained after they no longer qualified for youth center services. The program is based on the idea of the empowerment of young people and on community-approach models. The program was created further to a 2002-2005 pilot project in the AbitibiTmiscamingue, Outaouais, Laval and Montral regions (project associated with Solidarit jeunesse). A quasi-experimental evaluation was carried out by an independent third party: (http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/2008-es-19-eng.aspx). A final assessment report is available online at: http://www.acjq.qc.ca/public/a14178bc-45b5-4a12-b27e38017be2da39/mes_documents/qualification_des_jeunes/bilan/rapportfinalpqj22juini2 007.pdf. [in French only]

13) Program Material:

Website: http://www.acjq.qc.ca/qualification [in French only] Bottins des ressources jeunesse Evaluation instruments: o Profile of Youths and Their Families is an instrument for evaluating the teens psychosocial situation and for providing an overview of his/her personal and family history. The Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment is a tool that evaluates the life skills that the teen needs to transition to a productive life as an adult. The six life skill areas are: daily living; housing and community resources; financial management; selfcare; social relationships; and work habits and study habits (Ansell, 2001; Nollan et al., 2000). Guide dapprentissage de lautonomie fonctionnelle: information on how to teach life skills to teens; includes a description of the workshops for each life skill; contains a list of competencies to acquire based on the life skills performance indicators designed to enable the assessment of how skills development is going; proposes competency-based activities for the teen to carry out alone or within a group.

Kit containing various tools (e.g. folders, follow-up statistics, resource map) for the PQJ worker.

14) Additional Information:

This program has been used in all youth centers in Qubec since 2005. The information contained in http://www.acjq.qc.ca/qualification. this factsheet was taken from:

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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15) Contacts:
Jean Desmarais, Provincial Coordinator Association des Centres jeunesse du Qubec 1001, boul. de Maisonneuve Ouest, bureau 410 Montral (Qubec) H3A 3C8 Cell phone: (514) 942-1127 Email: desmarais.jean@videotron.ca, jeandesmarais@ssss.gouv.qc.ca

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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