Our Interview with BackTrack Network
Taken from BackTrack
BackTrack works by engaging a community of support, together helping young people to develop healthy foundations for positive life pathways. We do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.
We’ve been working with young people in and around Armidale NSW since 2006 and have been recognised at local, state and national levels. BackTrack’s approach has a positive impact on young people who need support, and their entire community.
Today is the second instalment of an ongoing series called Spotlight, where we take a closer look at an organisation that's part of the Network.Today we chat with Connect Kids and Gordon Barratt and Sonja Michels. They really live the 'do whatever needs to be done' spirit. It's a monumental effort and super inspiring.
Have a read below!
Before working with Connect Kids, what did you both do?
Gordon: I was a stockbroker, the charity work I’m doing is paying a debt back to society for being employed in that industry Sonja: I worked in Property Development for the past decade. Prior to that I opened Hotels for the Hyatt Group. I then moved on and opened a Boutique Recruitment & HR Consulting firm. This gave me the opportunity to become an Emergency & Short-term Foster Carer on the side. I joined our industry 2 years ago because I was passionate about Early Intervention & finding solutions.
When did Connect Kids start, and how?
Connect Kids started in 2018 to address a need that we could see was not adequately being addressed in the community, The cycle of inter-generational disadvantage
How would you describe the organisation?
We do whatever needs to be done to give young people a chance at life. That often involves working closely with the families in the background. We often need to find solutions around housing, employment and education, we provide or link people into supports around substance use, mental health, legal and relationship support.
Our supports are open ended and holistic. That seems to fit neatly in with BackTrack’s model of support.
How many young people do you work with?
We have 70 YP in our mentoring program. We haven't kept count however, my guestimate is that we engage at least 100 children and their families per year through our intensive family support program. That’s a reasonable workload for 2 full time staff and 2 part time staff.
Do you have any specific programs that you’ve found particularly effective?
Mentoring has proven to be a very effective way of engaging YP however without providing that additional level of support through our intensive family support network we would not achieve the successes that we achieve.
What do you think is really important when working with young people in your community?
Objective empathy, Passion, Non-judgement, rules of engagement (these are determined on a case-by-case basis), resilience, the ability to be able to connect at their level.
What obstacles are you facing at the moment?
Unfortunately I do have to say money. We need another 2 Sonja and Gordons... At least.
Ineffective Gov't dept's. Device and gaming addictions makes it very hard to engage YP from time to time.
Is there something you’re celebrating at the moment – care to tell us the story?
Becoming part of the BackTrack Network haha. No seriously building these relationships is something were very proud of, and I feel that we are good at. However, one of our great achievements is that we just delivered our first Connect Baby. Sonja spent 30 hours on half-an-hour’s sleep sitting beside our young lady’s bed while she gave birth to her little one. I’ve never heard a story around dedication to those that you support that betters that one.
We initially became involved with this young person (YP) when she was moved to QLD at the age of 14 by VIC Child Safety. We initially engaged her with a mentor, however due to the level of trauma she had endured and an intellectual impairment, it became clear that she needed far more support. Because of her vulnerability and destructive family relationships she began a cycle of Meth addiction, which we supported her through. 9 months ago, she fell pregnant and we knew that we were going to have a huge job ahead to prepare her for motherhood. Fortunately she stopped using as soon as she became pregnant. For around 6 of those 9 months, we have had her in our office almost everyday to build her day to day living skillsets. At the start of the process she had virtually no independent living skills and could not manage money. We secured crisis housing initially and then long-term community housing. She can now cook and clean for herself. She can manage her own money and we have no doubt will be a great mum.
During this time, we have had the constant spectra of child safety telling us that they did not have confidence in her ability to parent her child. Through our hard work Child Safety is now supporting us and is confident that she is a fit mother.
We are extremely proud of our achievement. The alternative does not bear thinking about. Had CS moved in on the child, that would have been another child in the system, which never ends well. She would have been heart broken and lost all faith, would have started using again and I can guarantee, would have had many more children all of which would have been wards of the state
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since beginning?
Hmm. This space is a lifestyle not a job. It is all consuming and you have to be prepared for that to some extent. It can’t be a part time role. Mental Health, substance use, youth crime, family break downs aren't a 5-day 9 to 5 phenomenon Sometimes out of hours you need to drop everything and attend to an issue. That’s life. I love it.Results sometimes take a lot longer to achieve than initially expected, we have to be here for the long game. I suspect, like BackTrack has long known, that we will still be supporting some of our young people in 20 years time.The other thing that we’ve always known but we are getting better at all the time is connecting with external parties to get results. Sometimes that means agitating and advocating so organisations change their practices so that they provide the services that they are chartered to provide.
Learn more about BackTrack by clicking below...
