Practical Partnerships: Analysis and Results of a Cooperative Life Skills Program for At-Risk Rural Youth

An Outcome Evaluation of a Youth Development Programme

“…Survival Skills for Youth (SSY) is a programme that is designed specifically for at-risk youths who are between 14 and 21 years of age (Thurston, 2002). Atrisk youths are defined as youths who are not in school or at risk of school failure or drop out.…”

“…The programme consists of ten sessions and its key activities include goal setting and developing life plans; leading a healthy lifestyle (health habits, nutrition, dieting, emotional health); employment (finding a job, interviewing, networking, job lifeline, job exploration, selfassessment, keeping a job) and life-skills development (communication with others, managing money, survival skills, reflection and assessment, and group support). Thurston (2002) evaluated the programme by using pre and post-test measures for each activity. He found that all youths who participated in the programme activities showed improved life skills.…”

“…Life skills are the basic skills necessary for successful independent living (Massinga & Pecora, 2008) and therefore the current evaluators would like to encourage programme staff to use the checklist and to assess the development of life skills on a regular basis. In addition, such a monitoring and assessment process would identify youths who are lagging behind in their life-skills development and who would need further intensive life-skills training (Thurston, 2002).…”

Occupational Performance Needs of Adolescents in Alternative Education Programs

“…The authors concluded that small class size may have been effective for improving self-regulation of behavior among these at-risk students. Thurston (2002) explored the effectiveness of a "competency-based life-skills training program" for 10 groups of at-risk youth in a rural program. The program was not exclusively in an alternative education program, but included some groups run in the alterative schools.…”

“…The primary focus of most of the studies that explore the needs of at-risk youth is on the environmental and educational factors that contribute to students' problems (Alexander, Entwisle & Horsey, 1997;Thurston, 2002;Walker & Sprague, 1999). Many of the studies suggest changes in the environments of these students as a means for reducing at-risk status.…”