1YOUTH HEALTH ● YOUTH RESEARCH ● YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

Newsletter Fall 2018IN THIS ISSUE

PAGE 12018 BC Adolescent Health Survey thank you

PAGE 2And another thank you to VFAC

PAGE 3Beyond a Dreamcatcher

PAGES 4–5Youth Advisory & Action CouncilYouth Action Grants

PAGE 6Evaluations updateYouth Research Academy

PAGE 7GardenYouth Advisory Council, Nanaimo Aboriginal CentreTRRUST Collective Impact

PAGE 8Photos from the season

@mccrearycentre

3552 East Hastings StreetVancouver, BC V5K 2A7

Tel. 604-291-1996 Fax. 604-291-7308

mccreary@mcs.bc.ca

www.mcs.bc.ca

Volume 13, Issue 2

McCreary Centre Society’s Youth Advisory & Action Council

McCreary Centre Society

Data collection for the 2018 BC Adolescent Health Survey (BC AHS) wrapped up in June, with about 38,000 students par-ticipating across the province. This is the largest sample that we have ever col-lected with 58 of the 60 school districts participating, including the Conseil scolaire francophone for the first time.

The survey was administered by over 400 trained Public Health Nurses and registered nurses, with the help of nurs-ing students from Langara College, UBC Okanagan, UNBC, BCIT, Vancouver Island University, University of Victoria, North Island College, Selkirk College, College of the Rockies, Thompson River University, Camosun College, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Four Langara nurs-ing students also completed a research practicum at McCreary in which they administered the survey and helped with survey processing and data entry.

McCreary is deeply grateful to the Public Health Nurse coordinators and all the administrators of the survey. It quite simply would not have happened without them. The survey also would not have happened without the support of superin-tendents, assistant superintendents, prin-cipals, vice-principals, teachers, and other school staff who facilitated the roll-out of the survey in 482 schools and over 2,000 classrooms. Their support is all the more appreciated because the last school year was a particularly busy one, with a number of other large scale and local surveys hap-pening at the same time.

Following the completion of data collec-tion, data entry and cleaning took place over the summer, and will continue through early fall. Data analysis will begin as soon as data entry and cleaning are completed. The provincial highlights report will be released in March 2019, and will provide an overview of the 2018

BC AHS Coordinator Karen Forsyth organizes surveys as they come back to McCreary from across the province.

2018 BC ADOLESCENT HEALTH SURVEY THANK YOU

Continued on next page.

2  YOUTH HEALTH • YOUTH RESEARCH • YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

McCreary Centre Societywww.mcs.bc.ca

A special prize at the end of the race.

Graphic comic by Alex van der Marel which was featured on the front page of the 2018 BC AHS.

results, including trends over time in key areas, and results of the new questions which were added to this wave of the survey. New ques-tions include topics such as quality of sleep, time away from technology, deprivation, Indigenous language fluency, resilience, online relationships, and subjective well-being.

In March, each participating School District will also receive confidential copies of their District’s data tables. Regional reports for each of the prov-ince’s Health Service Delivery Areas will follow. The provincial report will feature the art work of Alex van der Marel, a graduate of the Digital Media Academy at Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver, who is now a first-year student at Emily Carr. Alex has already contributed to the survey by providing a graphic comic highlighting students’ rights as research participants which was featured on the front page of the 2018 questionnaire.

Team McCreary gearing up for the Summerfast run.

AND ANOTHER THANK YOU TO VFAC

The Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club chose McCreary as the charity to benefit from their annual 10k Summerfast Run. The race was held on a glorious sunny morning in Stanley Park in July, and McCreary entered a team of seven staff and YAC members, and had a booth where we could share more information about the Society. All seven members of the McCreary team finished the race and were rewarded with a special prize in the team event. Special thanks to race director Dr. Sabrina Wong.

3YOUTH HEALTH • YOUTH RESEARCH • YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

NEWSLETTER Fall 2018

Arriving in Heiltsuk Territory, Bella Bella, to gather input from local young people as part of the Beyond a Dreamcatcher project.

Thoughts on Beyond a Dreamcatcher from a member of the YRA

Since January 2018, I have been travelling all over BC to speak to youth as a member of the Youth Research Academy. In total, we have talked to over 100 youth from multicultural cities in the Lower Mainland to Indigenous communities on the edges of the province. Our main way of collecting data was through a focus group that Indigenous members of the YRA created and facilitated with the help of core McCreary staff.

As an Indigenous youth, this subject hits home as I have lost family members to substance use. Either they walk the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver lost and disconnected to those who love them or they have been lost physically, passing on due to their addictions. It’s all too sad of a story to tell but it brought meaning to this project for me. There is a disconnect between treatment and culture, most of the time youth leave their communities to get help. In that process, they leave behind their family, their home, and their cultural connections all just to heal themselves. But time and time again Elders, community members, and the youth themselves have said these things are a part of our culture and culture is healing. I don’t know about you, but when I am sick I want the people who care about me around and I want to just be home and to feel safe. This is what I hope comes from this project, the importance of a sense of home and the ability to rebuild those connections that have been lost for the youth who need help. For nothing truly is better for the weary broken soul than grandma’s stew, some fried bread, and cultural medicines. Barbara-Jean Johnson Waabijiizi Asin

BEYOND A DREAMCATCHERBeyond a Dreamcatcher is a continuation of a 2016 pilot project funded by the Department of Federal Youth Justice. The three-year youth-led research project is looking at how to improve substance use programming for Indigenous youth involved in the justice system. To date, over 160 youth have participated in the project by attend-ing a focus group and/or completing a survey. Participants in the project have been providing valuable and insightful information about barriers to accessing or completing treatment, and shar-ing examples of cultural supports which can assist youth dealing with substance use challenges.

The focus groups have been co-facilitated by Indigenous members of McCreary’s Youth Research Academy (YRA) and have been con-ducted in communities across the province including Fort Nelson, Iskut, and Kamloops.

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McCreary Centre Societywww.mcs.bc.ca

YOUTH ADVISORY & ACTION COUNCIL

A special congratulations to our Youth Advisory and Action Council (YAC) members who graduated from high school this year and a

farewell to those who are moving away to attend university. We wish you the best of luck with your studies.

The YAC is looking for new members and with the launch of the 2018 BC AHS results coming up in the spring, it is a really exciting time to join and be part of developing the materials which will be used to share the results with young people.

Members of the YAC will also be working on a range of other projects which aim to benefit youth health across BC. Through these projects they also have an opportunity to meet new people and con-nect with like-minded youth, take part in leader-ship and training activities, travel within BC, and can add volunteer hours and unique experiences to their résumé. Upcoming projects for the fall include preparing for the launch of the new Youth Action Grants program; creating and facilitating a grant writing workshop; and attending a working weekend traditionally held at the breathtaking Galiano Island.

YOUTH ACTION GRANTS The 2013 BC AHS Youth Action Grants (YAG) Program ran between 2014 and 2017, and gave out $80,000 to young people seeking to address youth health issues identified on the 2013 survey. The granting program for the 2018 BC AHS will launch in the spring of 2019.

Most of the final projects funded in 2017 have now been successfully completed and youth project leaders have submitted their final project reports. Some of the projects which were completed at the end of the last school year include:

Meatless Monday Conscious Eating Project

Students from Sutherland Secondary in North Vancouver applied for a YAG to raise awareness of healthier foods and increase accessibility to plant-based foods within their school. With their grant funding, they subsidized costs for vegetarian/vegan meals served at their cafeteria, held weekly draws for meal coupons to encourage students to try healthier options, and distributed samples of these foods to gather feedback on which foods to serve based on student preferences.

As part of their awareness raising campaign, they delivered presentations about healthy food options to Foods and Biology classes at their school and visited an animal sanctuary farm and a farm-to-table restaurant which sourced locally grown ingredients. They also successfully presented a proposal to the North Vancouver Board of Education which resulted in an initiative to increase plant-based foods served in all secondary schools in the North Vancouver school district by 20%.

Having a ‘ball’ celebrating the YAC who graduated this year with a trip to the bowling alley.

If you are interested in joining the YAC or know a youth aged 15–24 who might be, please contact us at yac@mcs.bc.ca. You can also find more information on our website at www.mcs.bc.ca/yac.

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NEWSLETTER Fall 2018

A presentation board created by Sutherland Secondary’s Meatless Monday Club.

T-shirts designed by Mount Boucherie Secondary School’s Diversity Club.

Heartbeat of Mother Earth drumming group performs at a National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in Burnaby.

Operation Rainbow

Diversity Club members from Mount Boucherie Secondary School in West Kelowna applied for a YAG to help them promote inclusivity among students at their school. Throughout the school year, they gave presentations to students about gender identity and sexuality, educated students on the need for inclusive and safe spaces, hosted and attended awareness raising events, and placed rainbow safe-space stickers through their school. With the support of the school district, the club also painted a rainbow crosswalk outside of their school.

The Help Card

After noticing there was no central resource for youth needing access to local services and supports, students from North Saanich Middle School and Parkland Secondary School in Saanich came together and applied for a YAG. They used their grant funding to create a resource card which they called The Help Card.

The card features contact information for local health, social, and emergency services and supports which can be accessed by youth in Saanich. Printed copies of The Help Card were made available to students at both schools and an online version can be found at http://www.thehelpcard.ca.

Heartbeat of Mother Earth update

In appreciation of the support they have received through the YAG program, another grant recipient—the Heartbeat of Mother Earth drumming group at Moscrop Secondary School in Burnaby—recently invited McCreary to join them as they performed at a National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in Burnaby.

We look forward to relaunching the YAG program in Spring 2019 following the release of the 2018 BC Adolescent Health Survey provincial report. Keep an eye out on our grant website, https://youthactiongrants.wordpress.com, for the official opening date for applications!

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McCreary Centre Societywww.mcs.bc.ca

EVALUATIONS UPDATEWe have recently wrapped up a number of evaluations for agencies across the province, including three for the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks (FBCYICN). FBCYICN contracted McCreary’s Youth Research Academy (YRA) to develop evaluation tools for each of these evaluations, including youth surveys and interview questions, with support from McCreary staff. Members of the YRA offered input and insights unique to their experiences with the government care system, which helped make the tools more meaningful and relevant to the evaluation participants who were also in and from care. The YRA’s involvement in these evaluations also helped them gain skills in survey development, as well as data entry and analysis, which contributed to their overall understanding of how to carry out community-based research and evaluations of relevance to youth in and from care and the agencies that support them.

Evaluations currently underway include those for housing initiatives; yoga and mindfulness programs (including one for justice-involved youth); an employment program for new immigrant youth; an education support program; an environmental scan assessing services that young people access in their community and any barriers to accessing needed services; and a program for Indigenous youth which offers culturally relevant supports while in the program as well as when they return to their home community.

One of our evaluations for Aunt Leah’s Place (ALP) has entailed facilitating a survey-development workshop with young people connected to ALP. This interactive workshop culminated in the young people co-developing the survey which is being used for the evaluation. We look forward to sharing the evaluation findings with ALP program participants and staff when results become available.

YOUTH RESEARCH ACADEMY The Youth Research Academy (YRA) is a group of youth aged 16 to 24 with experience of the government care system. Members of the YRA

are trained to conduct research projects of interest to youth in and from government care and the agencies that serve them.

We recently celebrated the graduation of the second cohort of the YRA. The number of projects they had been involved in made an impressive list and it was great for them to have time to reflect on all their hard work and skills gained. Accolades were given, tacos were eaten, and much laughter was had as we celebrated and wished them well.

The third cohort started this summer and is already working on new projects and carrying on the work of the second cohort on other projects, including disseminating the results of a project about underage alcohol use.

As part of the evaluation of the YRA, each cohort makes two stop-motion films—one in their first week detailing what they would like to get out of their time in the YRA and one as they graduate. The films made by Cohorts 1 and 2 can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/mccrearycentre.

A still from Cohort 2’s second film, which depicts the group’s growth and achievements.

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NEWSLETTER Fall 2018

Swiss chard thriving in McCreary’s community garden.

GARDENWhen growing a garden there is nothing more frustrating than watching seedlings struggle to thrive or seeing those perfect lines of seeds you planted amount to nothing more than a pile of dirt. Visions of the healthy, strong plants pictured on seed packets haven’t always materialized in the McCreary garden, but over the past four seasons we have learned a thing or two about what grows best in our vegetable patch (fans of green beans, swiss chard, and radishes were happy this year). We’ve also learned a thing or two about what can happen when you turn a neglected back alley into a lush green space. We’ve gotten to know our neighbours, reduced illegal dumping, and added fresh air and sunshine to our work day. If you find yourself at McCreary, head out back and see for yourself—and grab one of those green beans while you are at it!

YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL, NANAIMO ABORIGINAL CENTRENanaimo Aboriginal Centre’s Youth Advisory Council is made up of twelve youth in or from government care and has three key objectives: Peer support, systemic change, and sustainability. Earlier this year, McCreary staff trained members of the Council in survey development and worked with them to create a survey for a community-wide youth engagement forum they were hosting.

The youth created a brief survey to get a better understanding of the experiences and needs of young people (aged 12–24) in their city when it came to accessing services. The survey results, other information that was collected at the forum, and the Council’s recommendations have been shared with relevant stakeholders including Hon. Katrina Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development.

TRRUST COLLECTIVE IMPACTMcCreary continues to act as the backbone organization for TRRUST Collective Impact, which is seeking to improve outcomes for youth transitioning out of care in

Vancouver. The initiative has a number of sub groups (known as clusters) working to see change in several key areas. One of the clusters is focusing on improving educational outcomes for youth in and from care.

The cluster took the results of McCreary’s recent report More than Grades: Redefining educational success for BC youth in government care and identified a need to create a fund which youth graduating from high school could access to ensure they had a similar graduation experience to their peers not in care. McCreary submitted a grant application on behalf of the TRRUST and was successful in receiving $20,000 from Coast Capital to start the fund. Details of how young people can apply will be announced shortly.

Collective Impact trrust

Collective Impact trrust

None of the work we are able to do would be possible without the generous support of our funders, including:

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McCreary Centre Societywww.mcs.bc.ca

CONNECT

mccreary@mcs.bc.ca

604-291-1996

www.mcs.bc.ca3552 East Hastings StreetVancouver, BC V5K 2A7

McCreary Centre Society

Founded in 1977, McCreary Centre Society is a non-government not-for-profit committed to improving the health of BC youth through research, evaluation, and community engagement projects.

Administrative Assistant and Youth Action Grants Coordinator shares information about the YAC at Eric Hamber Secondary School.

Executive Director, Annie Smith, and BC AHS Coordinator, Karen Forsyth, share information about McCreary at the Summerfast 10k Run.

Youth Research Academy members and McCreary staff enjoy the view while on the road for the Beyond a Dreamcatcher project.