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WinterFest debut for chorale Melbourne Youth Chorale held its first-ever WinterFest on 2 July, featuring joyful performances, a mini market, and festive vibes. The event raised nearly $800. A standout moment was the debut of the Poco Choir, delighting families and marking a new seasonal complement to their Harmony Week tradition. Full story page 12 Choir members Theo, Daniel and Claire. (Gary Sissons: 485281)
Crime busters A team of therapists from Oz Child are empowering parents to help bring teenage offenders in the South East back on the right side of the law. The teens are referred by Youth Justice, some with troubling rap sheets blotted by car thefts, carjackings, robberies or assaults. Star News spoke with those behind the Multisystemic Therapy program, which is reporting a stunning success rate during interventions of up to 20 weeks.
Crucially, 79 per cent reportedly had no further arrests at the end-point of treatment. Honed over the past 35 years, MST marries up the ‘many systems’ in a young person’s life – their family home, peers, schools, community groups and workplaces. Parents are taught practical skills - to communicate and problem-solve issues with their kids, and to set clear goals and boundaries. They’re told that it’s OK to be a parent.
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“This program gives the parent back to the parents – it says it’s OK to put boundaries in place,” program manager Claire says. The process is intensive, evidence-based and costly at about $1.1 million for this team of three therapists and a clinical supervisor to help about 45 families a year. However, it’s much less expensive than locking teens up in remand. Youth crime has become a hot topic across
Melbourne including Casey – fuelled by serious offending such as aggravated burglaries, carjackings and dangerous driving in stolen cars. Claire says a balance needs to be struck between punishment and getting to the root cause of offending by supporting a functional home life. The team say there’s a need for earlier intervention with MST-style programs to catch at-risk youth before they fall into crime. More on the story, turn to page 6
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