School
The school and the church (or agency) delivering the service sign a Youth Work agreement which define 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 for the service.

Church
The church is the service provider and the 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 Network provides help with these such as contract and report templates. We do allow however for local circumstances.

Funding
Financial arrangements can vary somewhat depending on local situations but to put two youth workers into a school would cost about $25,850-27,880 per year.

We recommend a 25:25:50 funding formula where the church pays 25%, the school pays 25% and the remaining 50% is raised from the broader community such as local government, philanthropic groups, private donors, and businesses.

Local Hub
In areas where there are a number of churches delivering 24-7 YouthWork we organize local hubs. In local 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”.

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 a groups 24-7 YouthWork budget. Two percent goes to the national network and eight percent to support the local hub. However where a local hub isn’t yet established the 8% levy isn’t charged.