Communicating the Need for Youth Friendly Services: The National Youth Service

This 119-page research paper evaluates the extent to which Jamaica's National Youth Service (NYS) incorporated "youth-friendly" standards into its Corps Programme. That is, author Amory Allison Hamilton-Henry explores whether the 1,430 young persons (15- to 24-year-olds) considered the services they received as accessible, responsive, caring, and respectful. Whereas, according to Hamilton-Henry, in many instances attempts to assess youth-friendliness have focused on reproductive health services, the present study explores a programme designed to address the problem of youth unemployment in Jamaica.

As detailed in the introductory section of this report, it has been observed that "youth who are unemployed, not enrolled in an educational institution and lacking the required family support are more likely to become involved in forms of anti-social and high-risk behaviour such as drug taking, early and unprotected sex and involvement in gangs." Yet, according to the author - if programmes geared toward addressing these issues do not successfully engage and empower youth by fulfilling their right to participate meaningfully in decision-making that affects their well-being, and/or if the youth are not aware of these services or are turned off by services that make them feel chastised or embarrassed - effective programming will not be possible. (A literature review section of the report provides background on youth-friendly service and describes barriers to the provision of this kind of service, as well as explores the meanings and role of "participation".)

To that end, the author examines the Corps Programme based on 4 areas: organisational characteristics, staff characteristics, administrative characteristics, and psychosocial characteristics. The study incorporates specific communication methodologies that are designed to elicit the views of the service provider and the users of the service in an attempt to compare views, identify achievements and specific gaps in service delivery, and identify specific areas where action can be taken to improve the quality of service using youth-friendly mechanisms.

As the author explains, the Corps Programme orients a select group of young people to the labour market. Participants are then taken through a one-month residential orientation model which combines core and standardised curricula, followed by a period of work attachment not exceeding 9 months. During this period, participants receive a stipend, benefit from the scheduled Career Guidance workshops, and the structured monitoring of work place and programme supervision. In ascertaining the views of the participants involved, the author made a distinction between those participants who had only been involved in the programme for a month (in-orientation) and those who had experienced the total programme and were preparing to exit. The purpose of this methodology was to determine whether there was any relation between the participant's level in the programme and his or her ability to critically review the components of the programme. This analysis was in turn compared to the results of a co-orientation analysis, which facilitated an examination of the views of participants and staff about the programme and their views about each other's perception of the programme. The goal here was to determine the level of attainment of "shared meaning" between these critical players in the NYS.

Findings are outlined in detail, and are followed by a Discussion of Findings (Chapter 6) and a series of recommendations (Chapter 7). Here is an excerpt from the latter 2 chapters:

"Results provided pointed to the fact that the NYS had incorporated elements of each of the four identified areas used in the assessment of youth-friendly programming. The strongest area as identified by both participants and staff was psychosocial characteristics, which assessed the respondent's perception of the quality of service being provided...

The NYS has also added to its youth-friendly environment by establishing offices in all 14 parishes, in areas, which were accessible to young people at convenient operating hours. Another commendable feature of youth-friendly programming was the clean and comfortable space from which the programme operated....Just under 80% of the participants indicated that these waiting areas were equipped with educational materials and posters with relevant information.

...This supportive physical environment was also enhanced by trained staff who demonstrated that they were aware of their roles...

...Despite these commendable achievements of the NYS, there are a number of factors, which have been identified, as absent from its programme and which impact on its efforts to be seen as a youth-friendly programme. One of the more important issues is the level of youth participation....Only 45% of the staff agreed that the participants should be involved in decision-making about the programme. This point of view was reflected in the actual level of involvement of participants in programming decisions...

...There were also issues with members of staff attitude towards the participants. Generally while participants felt staff was caring, it was important to explore the views of the in-orientation participants as 75% said staff did not listen to them, 70% said they had not been welcomed in a friendly manner, 66% said they were not treated with respect and 53% indicated that they did not think staff was approachable. The participants who were preparing to exit the programme did not support this view...

One of the key issues identified through this study is that staff and participants have different views about elements of the Corps programme and also have different perceptions about what the other thinks. In a programme such as this, it is critical for the providers and the beneficiaries to have an audience to communicate their views about the way they are experiencing the programme. It was also recognized that in some aspects, some staff members lacked the supportive attitude to facilitate the desired behaviour. These recommendations are designed to address the specific gaps identified in the NYS Corps programming using appropriate communication methods.

Recommendation 1: [T]he application of a programme checklist as a tool to evaluate the level of youth-friendliness of the programme based on the perception of staff and the participants...

Recommendation 2: Conduct a needs assessment where participants provide feedback on the types of information they want to access from the parish offices and incorporate these ideas into the information, education and communication (IEC) material displayed in the waiting areas...

Recommendation 3: All staff members should complete the Module in Youth in Development Work Training...

Recommendation 4: At least 30 minutes of each monthly workshop should be reserved for conversation between the CSO [corporate service officer] and the participants about the programme

Recommendation 5: Each batch of participants should elect a young person to serve as the participant's representative to the NYS meetings...

Recommendation 6: All courses (lectures in Orientation and Workshop sessions) should include a section for evaluation and feedback by the participants...

Recommendation 7: In light of the participant's interest in being involved in the recruitment of prospective participants, the NYS should facilitate their involvement in these activities, through appearances in the media and the mechanisms to highlight success stories.

Recommendation 8: Include a detachable section...on the NYS application form, which the CSO through the parish office can complete and return to all applicants with information about the steps between application and selection.

Recommendation 9: [I]nstitute a suggestion box in all offices....Some of these responses can form the basis for the (30 minute) discussion between CSOs and participants at the monthly career guidance workshops."

Editor's note: To request a copy of the full thesis, please contact the author at the address listed below.