Running head: PROJECT PROPOSAL 1

Placement Culminating Paper:

Project Proposal

Ashley Sabbe 0835071

Professor Katie Begley

Field Placement V

ECS 4070

November 30th, 2016

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Background

Part 1: Identifying a Need/Gap

After spending a few weeks at Ernestines interacting with both the staff, the women and

the children that reside in the shelter, the place where I noticed the biggest gap was in the

adolescent/youth section. Two days a week, we have programming with the children for an hour

and a half in the playroom where parents are not required to supervise or attend. The youth are

welcome to attend however, because the younger children require attention and activities to keep

them busy, there are no programs geared towards the youth, so they do not attend. The gap in the

programming is very imminent due to the fact that I very rarely see or talk to the youth, only

when I am upstairs during supper time, so I feel as though I do not know them very well. The

need to involve youth in our programming was actually discussed between my supervisor and I

before I had even introduced the project to her, which further solidified my idea of creating a

separate youth programming night once a week, on the nights that I am available so that we can

run both programs at the same time without any complications. If the youth continue to express

interest in the program that I have created and provide useful feedback and ideas that I can use, I

may see if it is possible to extend the program two days a week.

Part 2: Importance of Filling the Gap

Youth living in a shelter, whether they are alone or under the care of a parent, may be

experiencing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues and not have the proper supports

in place to help with healing. Research suggests, youth from disadvantaged backgrounds have

fewer assets than youth living within resource-rich schools and communities (Heinze, pp. 279,

2013). It is extremely important that the youth residing in this shelter have the opportunity to
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receive assistance to help them with any adversities they may be struggling through. Because we

are a domestic violence shelter, many of these youth have experienced, heard, witnessed or felt

the results of violence in the home. Post-traumatic stress from domestic violence can be

internalized, resulting in anxiety, depression and despair, but they can also show themselves

outwardly. According to the research of Meltzer, Doos, Vostanis, Ford & Goodman (2009),

children who witness domestic violence also show more behavioural problems or aggressive

and antisocial behaviours (pp. 492).

These youth have experienced a lot of trauma and because there is a gap in our

programming that does not involve teens, they are still struggling. Not only does Willis et als

(2010) research say that these youth are helped by physical outlets such as music and dance, but

Heinzes (2013) research further clarifies the need for filling in this gap in programming, by

proposing that youth with more assets exhibit fewer high-risk behaviours. The younger children

in the shelter, who have had similar at home experiences to the ones experienced by the youth

and adolescent group, are being provided with a program to help combat the negative effects that

may be associated with their in home experiences. However, like I have stated before, we are

currently lacking a program that provides these same services to the youth, and it is important for

us to provide every child in the shelter, no matter their age, with the opportunity to heal and

grow.

Part 3: Potential Outcomes of Filling this Gap

I have noticed that the youth tend to hang out on their own or in their rooms. However,

according to my supervisors, they are actually quite sociable compared to other youth that have

resided in the shelter. I hope to encourage this sociability by providing opportunities for them to
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hang out doing activities that they would be interested in, like movie nights or game nights with

some sort of prizes. According to Heinze (2013), Youth-serving settings and programs are

essential in providing condition that optimally support positive development (pg. 278). By

providing a safe space where the youth can interact with others who have come from similar

situations as them, even if they do not talk directly about their experiences, I am providing them

with the opportunity to form a relationship that may help them heal in the long run. The research

of Moylan et al (2010) further emphasizes the effect of domestic violence on children by stating

that, teens who were abused as children are also more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviour

problems, such as delinquency and violence perpetration (pg. 54). By providing a structured

alternative for the youth to attend, a possible outcome of this program could be the reduction of

violence and delinquency in the children staying at the shelter.

Another outcome that I hope to achieve by implementing this program is to provide the youth

with adult role models that they can trust and confide in. Based on a study of teens in a shelter

that Willis et al (2010) did that involved receiving feedback directly from the participants, it was

stated that, role modeling was discussed as being especially important to these teens (pg. 557).

These youth may be feeling resentment or insecurity towards the adults in their life and this

program would provide them with the idea that it is okay to trust adults again. Lastly, the

program that I am planning on implementing will largely thrive itself on suggestions and

feedback from the youth directly. Research says, youths involvement in the service evaluation

process might lead to a stronger service commitment (Altena, Beijersbergen & Wolf, 2014, pg

195). By having the youth give suggestions on what would interest them to do during program,

it gives a stronger guarantee of attendance, enjoyment and most importantly, long term results.
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Objectives

1) To create a space where the youth can go to connect with each other and bond with

others who have shared similar experiences

2) To combat the negative effects of witnessing domestic abuse, such as violent

behaviours, social withdrawal and depression, by providing social structure

3) To receive feedback from the youth on what sort of activities to provide during the

program so that they stay interested and continue to attend

Monitoring and Evaluation

Part 1: Evaluation Design

I will be doing a non-experimental time series design, which means that I will be

observing and analyzing specific trends during the program (Types of Evaluation, 2013). I will

be monitoring attendance trends throughout the program. The reason that I have decided to do

this is because this program is optional. I believe that the program attendance should be steady or

increasing if it is affective and the youth are enjoying it.

I will also be observing the relationships between the youth not only during the program,

but also continually during my time at the shelter when I am wandering about. I will also be

observing the interactions between the youth and their families and other families at the shelter.

The goal of this program is to strengthen relationships between the youth and others in the

shelter, as well as providing them with a safe space and alternative activities.

Part 2: Data Collection Methods

To collect the attendance, I will keep a sheet with all of the names of the youth in house

and the date of each program at the top of the list. Every time the youth attend, there will be a

check mark beside their name under the appropriate date. This way, I will be able to tell who has

come regularly, who has stopped or who never came at all and when the decline began to
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happen. I will keep a record of the activities that have been done on each date so that I can have

an idea of which activities got the most attendance or which activities caused the youth to stop

attending the program.

For my qualitative data collection, I will be doing informal interviews and getting verbal

suggestions from the youth. Much like Heinze (2013), where she received information from the

youth by having them fill out surveys up to three times during their stay (p. 280), I will be

performing these informal interviews multiple times throughout the semester in order to get the

best feedback. For those who did not attend the program, I will gather information on what they

would be interested in coming to the program for. If any youth began attending the program but

left, I will ask them what changed their mind and what exactly it was that made them stop

coming and what I can do to change that. Lastly, I will continue to ask the regular attenders what

their interests are for program and why they are enjoying attending, so that I have information

from all three perspectives.

Part 3: Data Analysis Process

Records of attendance and all of the informal verbal interviews and suggestions that have

been given will all be kept together and separated based on each youth. This will help me

analyze attendance, what the youth are enjoying and not enjoying and the overall success of the

program itself in regards to what is happening directly inside the program.

By observing and recording the behaviours and relationships between the youth and their

families or friends in the shelter, I will be able to tell if the goal of the program, which was to

help rebuild their relationships and ease any anxiety or anger that they may be experiencing, is

being reached outside of the program and that results are being seen in the overall behaviour and

everyday life of these youth.

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References
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Altena, A. M., Beijersbergen, M. D., & Wolf, J. (2014, November). Homeless youth's

experiences with shelter and community care services: Differences between service types and the

relationship to overall service quality. Children and Youth Services Review, 46, 195-202.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.08.019

Armaline, W. T. (2005, April). "Kids Need Structure": Negotiating Rules, Power, and

Social Control in an Emergency Youth Shelter. The American Behavioral Scientist, 48(8), 1124-

1148

Heinze, H. J. (2013, February). Beyond a bed: Support for positive development for

youth residing in emergency shelters. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(2), 278-286.

Meltzer, H., Doos, L., Vostanis, P., Ford, T., & Goodman, R. (2009, November). The

mental health of children who witness domestic violence. Child & Family Social Work, 14(4),

491-501. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2009.00633.x

Moylan, C., Herrenkohl, T., Sousa, C., Tajima, E., Herrenkohl, R., & Russo, M. (2010,

January). The Effects of Child Abuse and Exposure to Domestic Violence on Adolescent

Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems. Journal of Family Violence, 25(1), 53-63.

doi:doi: 10.1007/s10896-009-9269-9
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Types of Evaluation Designs. (2013). In Urban Reproductive Health. Retrieved

November 24, 2016, from https://www.urbanreproductivehealth.org/toolkits/measuring-

success/types-evaluation-designs

Willis, D., Hawkins, J. W., Pearce, C. W., Phalen, J., Keet, M., & Singer, C. (2010,

August). Children Who Witness Violence: What Services Do They Need To Heal? Issues in

Mental Health Nursing, 31(9), 552-560