Advancing Our Impact Strategy
The 2023-2024 financial year has seen several significant milestones in the implementation of the impact strategy.
By expanding Human Flourishing Theories of Change and Program Logic Models to a greater number of metro Youth Education and Engagement initiatives, our teams have collaborated on creating shared visions of the learning and developmental outcomes they strive to deliver on with and for young people. The systematic process we followed to do this work has fostered a culture of learning, curiosity, and mission-aligned practice.
Evaluation plans have guided us in the collection of impact data that evidences our contribution to human flourishing. Collection of 5Cs Positive Youth Development scores in post-program surveys throughout the second half of 2023 allowed us to track what changed for young people from when baselines were collected at the start of the year. For the first time, we were able to compare the same indicators of impact across different youth programs.
In 2024, we repeated collection of 5Cs baseline scores across Metro Youth Services, building maturity in our understanding of the data. In future we aim to strengthen our 5Cs data collection in our regional youth services with an approach that is sensitive to culture and accessibility.
Expanding the Impact Strategy implementation beyond youth services, we began work to assess Human Flourishing outcomes in community family services through development of a logic model for facilitated playgroup, Play in the Park. We will expand this thinking to the Boronia Prison Playgroup and our Child and Parent Centre in South Hedland and look forward to capturing data to understand how Y WA initiatives support child and parent flourishing.
The first half of 2024 also saw the implementation of LanguageScreen in all 14 Early Learning Centres (ELC). LanguageScreen is a brief, fun app developed at Oxford University that our educators use with children to assess the development of early language skills. This approach to evaluation supports the School ReadY program by providing an indication of the diverse level of competence in children in our ELCs. 446 children across the 14 centres were assessed.
Case Study: Youth Empowerment Through Impactful Initiatives
Our ambition is to evidence our contribution to the positive development of children and young people who engage with the Y WA. In our Youth Engagement and Education Services, flourishing outcomes are assessed using the 5Cs Positive Youth Development Student Questionnaire.
This is derived from the 5Cs Model of Positive Youth Development, a framework which suggests that when a young person’s internal strengths align with a resource- rich environment, young people grow in Competence, Connection, Character, Confidence, and Caring – the 5Cs.
When the 5Cs are in place, a young person is more likely to exhibit a sixth C – Contribution, to self, family, community and greater society and, ultimately, idealised personhood.
The Y WA aligns with the 5Cs Model as the 6th C, Contribution, echoes strongly the history and DNA of the YMCA, an organisation born out of inspired young people making positive contributions to their community.
Another strength is its flexibility and relevance to the diversity of young people the Y WA serves. Emerging global research has begun to explore the validity of the model in different cultural, economic and political contexts.
We can report the 5Cs as a single 5Cs PYD Score ranging from 0 to 100, or as five sub-scale scores from 0 to 20.
In 2023, the average baseline 5C PYD Score recorded by young people in Case Management in was 64.5, low compared to other youth services. After a number of months engaged in the service, the average 5Cs score increased to 68.1. This was due to increases in the domains of Confidence, Connection and Competence.
Growth in these domains is echoed strongly in the response of young people when asked about the most significant thing that has happened to them as a result of participating the Y’s Case Management Service.
- “[I’m] not as shy, I have found my voice, and I am not scared to say what is important to me, my confidence has increased.”
- “Gained a lot of self-confidence, I don’t put self-down, and I am socialising more with people”
Early Learning Centres
During the 2023-2024 financial year we developed and implemented strong foundations that enable the children in our care to flourish. Across our 14 Early Learning Centres 1,994 (+13%) children attended with 173,467 attendances being recorded. This is up from 129,360 the previous year reflecting the effort undertaken to meet the needs of parents in the community.
In the financial year we completed the School Readiness pilot in five Early Learning Centres (ELCs), followed by the official launch of the School ReadY program in April 2024. Across all 14 centres, in this first domain of the School ReadY program we focussed on developing pre-literacy skills, as reading is a critical foundation for children’s educational success.
Our commitment to data-driven outcomes is reflected in partnerships with La Trobe University and ECU for the School ReadY evaluation and the application of Ox Ed LanguageScreen, a fun and engaging tool that tracks the progress of children’s early language skills. In April 2024, 446 children were assessed with LanguageScreen.
Out of School Hours Care
In the last financial year, we had 188,609 participations in Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) services with 2,358 families attending our 19 centres.
The Education Strategy provided the opportunity to strengthen the support our OSHC services provide for schools by providing a program that deliberately supports children’s development. The feedback from our OSHC team members focussed the attention on the development of a program of professional development for all OSHC staff to create a calm, welcoming and safe environment where children could play and engage in the OSHC program and activities. This training will be facilitated to all staff in the later half of 2024.
Youth Services
We continue to create opportunities for all young people to flourish through a diverse range of programs, services, and activities.
Across 15 funded youth services and programs throughout metropolitan and regional areas of Western Australia, we have recorded 19,744 instances of participation with young people. In addition, at our Y School in Mirrabooka, we have supported 94 students in re-engaging with the school system, helping them prepare for life after school.
For young people in our Youth Services, we apply the 5Cs model of Positive Youth Development to guide how our programs and services deliver human flourishing outcomes. Based on 30 years of research into youth development, the 5Cs theory suggests that when a young person’s internal strengths align with a resource-rich environment, they grow in Competence, Connection, Character, Confidence, and Caring. These 5Cs lay the foundation for a sixth C—Contribution—where a young person is more likely to contribute to themselves, their family, their community, and society at large, progressing toward their ideal self.
Community Family Support Services
We continued to strengthen our connections with families across the state through our family support programs and playgroups. Additionally, we have begun adapting our Theory of Change to better suit community initiatives, such as our Child and Parent Centre and the Boronia Playgroup. This work will allow us to tailor our approach to meet the unique needs of these communities.
In the Great Southern region, our Play in the Park program experienced unprecedented growth. Attendance increased from approximately 230 families over 155 sessions in seven locations during the 2022/23 year, to 450 families across 163 sessions in eight locations in Albany and the Great Southern this financial year.
At the Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women, our playgroup continues to support women in building stronger relationships with their children through guided play, activities, and personalised support.
Meanwhile, our Play at the Park program, offered through the Child and Parent Centre in South Hedland, remains a local favourite, attracting over 778 parents and 1,303 pre-kindy children. The CPC have a strong relationship with WA Country Health the Ear bus, speech pathology and strong local networks ensuring a place-based approach to delivering quality services to parents with children prenatal to eight years old.
Health and Wellness
Our recreation centres are more than just facilities—they nurture the body, mind, and spirit, supporting individuals to flourish in all aspects of life. Each centre serves as an important hub for the local community, offering a diverse range of programs and services.
During the 2023–2024 financial year, we transferred management of the Narrogin Recreation Centre back to the Shire of Narrogin through a mutually agreed arrangement.
As a result, we now operate two recreation centres—one through a managed contract and one owned site. Over the past year, 1,799 members utilized our gym facilities.
Our People
Regularly listening to the voice of our people is key to our strategy of delivering flourishing outcomes to our employees. By listening, seeking to understand, and acting on feedback, we ensure we are staying close to how our people feel about their experience as an employee and what we can do to improve it. In September 2023, we commenced a program of employee listening with the launch of an annual Employee Experience Survey, the results of which are used to inform programs of work across the business, all with the intention of delivering flourishing outcomes for our people.
The Employee Experience Survey will run each year to measure the impact areas of Belonging, Competence, Independence, and Connectedness. Additionally, we are now measuring cultural drivers from the beginning of the Employment Lifecycle to ensure the best employee experience, particularly in the early part the employment journey.
2023 – 2024 has seen the implementation of several strategic and operational programs and initiatives centred around the improvement of organisational communication and connection to the Leadership Group.
We have developed a strategic approach to communication to include more frequent and effective communication, including developing Brand CEO to ensure targeted communication and leadership across the organisation. Tactically, this has meant significant investment in regular newsletters, strategic updates, CEO Corner, and online Townhalls with the CEO.
To support our people in their professional development and foster a learning environment, the Y WA has linked strategic work such as our Impact Strategy and School ReadY to the development of people capability and further developed our approach to regular more meaningful workplace conversations that seek to meet individuals where they are and provide support and development appropriate to their needs.
In the 2023–2024 financial year, we employed a total of 582 people, comprising 198 full-time employees, 162 part-time employees, and 222 casual staff. Our workforce was further supported by the valuable contributions of 57 volunteers.
Of our 582 staff 20.5% are under the age of 25.
Our Highlights
In this year’s annual report, we are excited to share the significant strides made during this phase of the Y’s strategic journey. Key highlights include the successful launch of our Education Strategy, our inaugural Kokoda trek, and the introduction of the School Ready program
Our Leaders
The financial year 2023-2024 marks the second year of implementing the Growth for Impact Strategy.
The 2024 Annual Report offers insights into the concept of flourishing and showcasing the significant impact the Y WA has on children, young people, and the broader community.
Our Stories
We have many stories to share but for this year we are focusing on stories that illustrate “Impact for Children and Youth Flourishing.”
Impact can be defined as “having a strong effect on someone or something” and in relation to our stories we focus on the positive effect on young people being able to flourish.