livALIVE FAQ
What is livALIVE™?
livALIVE™ is a division of Police & Community Youth Centres (PCYC) which tackles issues such as disengagement, truancy, drug and alcohol abuse and antisocial behavior among at-risk children and young adults.
The initiative is the first of its kind in WA to offer local governments a mobile drop-in service 24-hours a day, seven days a week for their community.
Why was it created?
PCYC, recognising the need to ‘go mobile’ in order to offer services to those individuals and communities that may not have access to a current PCYC facility, developed livALIVE™.
livALIVE™ tackles the growing problem of marginalization among WA youths, which is contributing to increased truancy, antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol abuse and criminality.
Who runs the mobile units?
The units are staffed by youth and social workers who have experience in working with disadvantaged young people from a variety of backgrounds.
What services do you provide?
The methodology used to deliver livALIVE™ programs is to first establish a city hub. Hubs are either Intake Centres or Drop-In centres or both. Outreach services emanate from the hub and over time many Youth Spaces will be established throughout the city suburbs.
The mobile drop-in centre involves going out into the community and setting up youth spaces in locations that suit the young people.
These mobile drop-ins provide a range of programs based on educational, vocational and recreational content. These programs depend on the needs of the community but could include:
- Community driving & cycling education
- Film making
- Dance
- Theatre & comedy
- Urban art & photography
- Skate & BMX
- ‘Bounce’– a series of workshops and events based on hip-hop, beatbox and breakdance
- Mentoring and counseling on a personal and/or family basis is all part of the overall provision.
The intake centre is where we work with harder to reach youths who are suffering from extreme disadvantage and / or are criminal reoffenders – providing food, organising shelter when needed, and offering ongoing guidance.
However, livALIVE™ does not directly provide all services. Instead we work in close relationship with other agencies such as Anglicare, Headspace, Mission Australia, Nagala, St. John of God, Youth Focus and others to ensure young people receive the best possible services from organisations that are experts in their field.
What are the goals of livALIVE™ and how will your performance be measured?
The goal of livALIVE™ is to provide Youth Spaces in areas where the needs of young people are not currently being met. Most of the requests for livALIVE™ services will come from schools and local agencies where youths have no ready access to the types of programs livALIVE™ provides.
Where the service call originates from schools, local government and social agencies (DCP) our performance is measured in terms of youth participation and engagement. Where the agency calling for livALIVE™ intervention is the local police, then the measure would be the programs contribution to the reduction in crime, drug, or alcohol abuse; these figures are recorded by police in their monthly Crime Statistics.
What are the key issues livALIVE™ will address that similar services do not?
The key issue that livALIVE™ addresses is the real requirement of the young people for whom the Youth Space is created.
livALIVE™ involvement occurs due to invitation from local government, schools and/or other agencies requesting intervention. Before establishing a Youth Space, livALIVE™ consultants a representative sample of young people in the community so that the service deployed in the ‘Space’ is exactly what the school/suburb/participants want.
What is your role in schools?
We work in partnership with schools to identify the young people are disengaged or are truants and develop tailored programs to support them. livALIVE™ forms a partnership with schools under a 'Notice of Arrangement' wherein the school, local police and livALIVE™staff work together towards returning the young person to mainstream or alternative education, or training. We also provide drug and road safety education, and driver training.
How do you work with the police?
PCYC has a 71 year partnership history with the WA Police. WA Police will support those livALIVE™ programs that contribute to the reduction of offending in young people and divert young people from an offending lifestyle.
How are you funded?
PCYC is a not-for-profit organisation that receives no recurring government funding. PCYC supports their activities and services through grants, fundraising, sponsorship, donations and modest fees.
livALIVE™ is currently supported financially by Variety the Children’s Charity of WA, the Channel 7 Telethon Trust and the McCusker Charitable Foundation. Funding received has allowed for the production and fit-out of two mobile trucks, which will initially service the Cities of Swan and Belmont. To date we have also received $25,000 as a one off donation from the Hon. Robyn McSweeney (Minister for Minister for Child Protection; Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering; Women's Interests; Youth). However significant funding is still required to allow livALIVE™ to be fully operational.
