The Youth Outreach Program serves youth ages 12 -24 years. The program engages high risk,marginalized youth to address riskfactors. Youth Outreach Counsellors assist youth by providing support, counselling, advocacy, and sharing their skills and knowledge. The Counsellors help youth to stabilize their lives and plan for their future. The program strives to minimize the harmful effects of poverty, homelessness and substance abuse experienced by youth in Whitehorse. The program provides a continuum of care from help with basic needs like housing, employment and food; to in-depth therapy. Youth Outreach Counsellors also provide family counselling and assist with parent-teen conflict resolution, mediation, parenting coaching and support. Youth Outreach Counsellors will also refer youth in need to other appropriate or complementary services and provide advocacy, support and accompany the youth to this new service when requested or needed.
Youth Outreach Counsellors reach out to youth where they are at – on the streets, at school, incommunity settings and at youth serving organizations. The Counsellors staff the No Fixed Address Outreach Van service three nights per week to provide counselling, support, food and harm reduction for youth and adults living on or near the streets of Whitehorse. Short term and long term counselling is available to address issues like addictions, trauma, grief and violence. Counsellors provide supportive counselling and less formal support like meeting for coffee with young people who need to talk about immediate issues but don’t want to engage in longer term counselling. Counsellors assist with crisis intervention when possible and assist in the development of safety plans for the youth to reduce the risk of harm to self or others.
The Youth Outreach Program also actively engages in educational activities on youth issues in Whitehorse. Workshops can be provided on various youth issues including: healthy decision making, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol use, suicide prevention, crime prevention and prevention of violence. The program also provides support and information to other youth workers and professionals in Yukon. The Youth Outreach Program promotes and participates in collaborative partnerships with other organizations and governments in Yukon.
Youth Outreach Counsellors - Whitehorse
Michael Knutson BTH, MSCP-(in progress)
Michael is a youth outreach counsellor trained in person centred, cognitive behavioural, and existential counselling. Working with youth across Canada and around the world, in prisons, on streets and in schools, has given him an in-depth understanding of a variety of issues and challenges that youth of today are facing. Michael recognizes that each individual is uniquely shaped in character by a mixture of diverse experiences, and that each individual has the potential to fully understand and creatively fulfill their unique purpose. He is here to assist youth in making healthy choices, in clarifying strengths and to encourage youth to engage in life while setting positive goals for the future.
Jayme Henderson BA (University of Guelph)
Jayme has a Bachelors degree in Child, Youth and Family Studies from the University of Guelph and she has just recently moved here from southern Ontario. Jayme has a passion for working with high risk youth and comes from a strengths based, empowerment and resiliency approach. She has experience as a Youth Worker with the Sunchild First Nation in Alberta. In addition she has worked with high risk young men at Wyndham House group home. She has also worked with children and youth with chronic illnesses in Mission BC and Ireland.
Reel Youth Project
Young Women’s Voices was an innovative project run by Many Rivers Counselling and Support Services in 2010 and designed to give young women in Whitehorse an opportunity to find their voice through creative self-expression, as well as gain support and learn more about issues that are important to them. The project was coordinated by Jodi Proctor, with support from the Youth Outreach Counselling team. The following videos were produced during this project. They are short films, please take the time to give them a viewing.
