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Administration
Behind the “front-line” Youth Workers there needs to be “behind the scenes” back-up. 24-7 YouthWork requires a number of key administrative supports.
School
The school and the church delivering the service (along with the liaising charitable trust and 24-7 YouthWork Network) sign a 24-7 YouthWork agreement which defines the mutual expectations. It includes things such as:
· The appointment by the school of a staff liaison that youth workers can contact day to day about their work in the school.
· Written reports for the Principal each term from the youth workers on their activity.
· Youth workers meeting each term with the Principal and the staff liaison.
· What financial commitments made by each group.
· Review dates.
Church
The church is the service provider and the with the charitable trust is employer of the youth workers. It is responsible for:
· Appointing someone as Manager of the youth work service. This is usually the church youth pastor. They meet with the youth workers monthly.
· Providing job descriptions, employment agreements and payroll.
· Youth workers complete weekly time sheets as a record of their activity. This is used to compile the term reports.
The 24-7 YW Network provides help with these such as contract and report templates. We do allow however for local circumstances.
Funding
The commitment and passion 24-7 YouthWorkers bring is not something that can be 'paid for', but at the same time 24-7 YouthWorkers need to be sustained in some way to achieve long term commitment.
Financial arrangements can vary somewhat depending on regional situations. In 2009 in Canter-bury, to put two 24-7 YouthWorkers into a school would cost about $28,358 per year, four 24-7 YouthWorkers approximately $45,936. We recommend a 25:25:50 funding formula between the church, the school and the community. So for a two 24-7 YouthWorker scenario the church would pay $7,000, the school $7,000 and the remaining $14,000 is raised from the broader community such as local government, philanthropic groups, private donors, and businesses.
This shared financial responsibility leads to strong buy-in from the key stakeholders and is part of what makes the model work. The charitable trust that employs the 24-7 YouthWorkers on behalf of the church primarily manages the responsibility of raising the extra 50% funding. This funding comes from a variety of different sources – applications to philanthropic trusts, individual donors and fund-raising ventures etc. The overall responsibility for generating and managing this funding lies with the charitable trust facilitating the 24-7 YouthWork relationship. However a school and community might be involved in helping raise funds together.
Achieving the recommended funding formula in the beginning can take time, and is sometimes, a challenge that is met at the start by volunteerism, good will and community spirit.
Regional Hub
In areas where there are a number of churches delivering 24-7 YouthWork we organize regional hubs. In regional hubs:
· A youth advisor is appointed to provide help and advice to youth workers, schools and churches.
· Youth Workers meet together fortnightly for support, training and to swap ideas about “things that worked".
· Local managers from the regions meet monthly and are supported by a Regional Coordinator.
National Network
24-7 YouthWork is a not a structured institution but a relational network of churches seeking to serve their community. The national network focuses on:
· Setting national quality standards
· Helping new schools and churches get set up.
· Providing training and support
Churches wanting to provide 24-7 YouthWork are required to sign a relationship agreement. This agreement gives them permission to operate under the 24-7 YouthWork name but requires them to the follow national standards and be active members of the network.
Levies are charged to support regional and national networks. Levies equate to up to 10% of the set 24-7 YouthWork budget.
