• increasing clients’ income by supporting them into   employment
• improving people’s ability to cope on their incomes through our financial counselling and capability services
• preventing people getting into financial difficulties through community education.

In 2016-17 we invested in an employment transition worker in our Substation33 team to help Substation volunteers move into paid work once they gained experience and skills with us. We also employed an employment engagement worker to work with clients in our case management teams, particularly our PHAMs mental health recovery service. These workers joined our ParentsNext team to improve work readiness of people facing significant barriers to employment. We estimate that 75 vulnerable people moved into work in 2016-17 through YFS’ efforts, while ParentsNext supported a further 500 parents to set work-related goals and take action to achieve them.

Our financial counsellors and Money Smart workers continued to help people deal with financial crises. Many of our clients have debilitating debts to rental companies. With a grant from the Department of Social Services, we launched a marketing campaign to promote alternatives to consumer leases for appliances and furniture. Our Done With Debt campaign generated awareness of alternatives including no interest loans (NILS) and prompted calls to YFS Connect and visits to the campaign website from people considering rentals.

Looking forward: In 2017-18, YFS will continue to build our focus on employment. We look forward to working with vulnerable people on innovative work-related projects.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

It takes strong partnerships to create real employment opportunities for people who have never worked or who haven’t worked for a long time. YFS’ social enterprise, Substation33, provides opportunities for jobseekers to gain experience and skills in a supportive environment. In 2016-17, Substation33 partnered with Logan City Council to establish Solar Signs Solutions, manufacturing flood warning signs for low-lying road crossings.

The signs proved themselves during Tropical Cyclone Debbie in early 2017, when no motorists attempted to drive through floodwaters at the nine crossings where solar signs were installed. This new business arm has generated increased paid work and work experience opportunities for Substation33. We worked with Work for the Dole providers to create real-world learning experiences in manufacturing for participants, a number of whom have gone on to paid work.

OUTCOMES and IMPACTS

Our Federally-funded services use the SCORE tool to assess improvements in clients’ ability to manage money, their material well-being and their employment and education. On average YFS clients made performance improvements in all financial domains, in particular managing money and material wellbeing.

While clients generally improved on financial issues, many remain in financial stress. Across all programs we asked clients about their financial situation through our organisational outcomes questions. On entry to our services 52% of clients reported having trouble paying a bill in the past month, compared with 41% of clients on exit. Clearly our clients need further support to increase their financial capacity, which is why we are focusing on employment.