950 young people in need supported via our free counseling services in 2011!
2011 was another highly successful year for our youth and family counselling team. In total 950 young people were supported via our ongoing free services however it is regrettable that at the close of the year some 66 young people remained on a waiting list.
The length of average individual engagement with our services remains in excess of eight months which illustrates the significant support provided and the intensity of the issues dealt with.
It was very pleasing that we recorded a 32% increase in calls to our referral hotline during 2011 with most of these calls resulting in accepted referrals. Funding that will enable us to employ more counsellors remains our largest hurdle in assisting more young people.
As we look ahead to the challenges in 2012 we cannot help but recognize, although we work as hard as we can, there is still so much work to do in supporting vulnerable young Western Australians. Youth Focus’ waiting list is growing, which we view as a mandate to extend our services as far as possible to help prevent the waste of any young life.
We thank you for your ongoing support to Youth Focus over 2011 and look forward to keeping in touch with you this year.
