Promoting resilience in young people : Progress in implementing a framework in schools

Issue addressed: The Framework for Student Support Services (FSSS) in Victoria aims to foster resiliency among young people through an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. This study examined the implementation of the first 18 months of the Framework in a rural region. Methods: A process evaluation was conducted involving eight focus groups with student welfare staff and a survey of 79 schools. Results: Participants reported frustration with delays in professional development, a perceived lack of resources and difficulty engaging the community welfare and health sectors. The survey revealed that schools were targeting primary prevention activities. Conclusion: The student welfare system is successfully introducing some early intervention services. However, the system is still largely constrained to work clinically with individual high risk students. Staff are attempting to introduce a whole-school approach to promoting resiliency. There is significant variation between schools in their efforts and successes. So what?: The Framework is an ambitious, long term program. It presents major challenges for reorienting the priorities and activities of the student support system. Implementation could be improved through a statewide evaluation and learning from research on the delivery of other whole-school approaches to student support. (author abstract