Botkyrka YAP - an advocacy model working with youth at risk

Purpose and goal

The aims and goals were several when implementing YAP. The overall pursuit was to create a service for children living in financially and socially vulnerable situations and to increase their chances for an independent life and better health. Through YAP´s strength based approach young people would be supported to achieve in school. YAP would also help improve the service called kontaktperson. The latter was most definitely accomplished. In a shorter perspective it is harder to clearly state that YAP has improved the young person´s educational competences and mental health.

Expected results and effects

While implementing YAP, a research study is being executed to find out whether the YAP led to improved results in school and improved mental health. This study will be finalised in March 2017. It will hopefully give us the answers to these questions. Our experience is that the young persons who completed the service managed to make changes to increase their chances to achieve in school and have better health. YAP has both shortened and prevented out of home placements for young people, but also laid better grounds for out of home placements to succeed, when a placement has been necessary

Planned approach and implementation

The project plan that was created in the application has been carried out. The implementation has worked and identified obstacles or difficulties been handled. Some of the activities proved difficult to put into practice. To clearly state that YAP helped reduce costs in relation to out of home placements turned out to be a complex issue. The cost as a whole has reduced and YAP has without a doubt contributed to that. A number of the activities still need work, both developing and improvement, but the belief is YAP has the potential to be used also for other target groups, for instance parents.

External links

http://www.botkyrka.se/stodochomsorg/socialtengagerad/yap