"Trustee" is the name chosen for the new social function developed by the Youth Futures program and is intended to create a framework within young communities for their work with children at risk. The choice of the name reflects the relationship of trust between the child and the Trustee. One can thus view the work contract between the two as a contract through which the child agrees to cooperate with the adult in the efforts to improve his situation. The same idea allows us to describe the working relationship between the two as coaching, a term which also reflects the belief in the child's ability to shape his future.

Elementary & Middle School Trustees

This part of the program is aimed at developing motivation, self-esteem and self-confidence among the children and improving their scholastic achievements while also developing their ability to set goals for themselves and achieve them. This component will involve personal and group support by the Trustee who will also serve as a role model for the child and will function as a coordinator between the authorities dealing with the child.

Goal

To provide children at risk, aged 9-14, with an equal opportunity to succeed and to fulfill their individual potential through the development of motivation, self-esteem and self-confidence, improvement of scholastic achievement in core subjects and developing the ability to set goals for oneself and achieve them.

This intensive system is intended to support the child from the early years in school up until high school, through the significant years devoted to crystallizing the child's sense of self and character, and the more difficult transition periods.

Approach

This stage of the program will involve personal and group work with the children by the Trustees who form the core of the program. A personal program (or map of future progress) will be drawn up for each child that will be based on a comprehensive mapping of his needs and strengths. The program will be created by a professional team assigned to the child (teacher/social worker/guidance counselor) together with the Trustee. It will focus on four spheres of functioning: personal growth, scholastic achievement, the social environment and the family environment. The Trustee's function is to oversee the implementation of the personal program and to coordinate between the various authorities involved in the child's personal program.

What is a Trustee?

The basic assumption of Youth Futures is that a movement of young people has the power to generate real change in the situation of large numbers of children and youth. During recent decades, a unique phenomenon has developed in Israel that involves communities of young people from various backgrounds who devote themselves to social change. Most of the Trustees are local young residents seeking to make a social difference in neighborhoods and towns in Israel's social and geographic periphery, and they are joined by groups of youth movements' alumni from other regions who settle in the periphery and work to improve the social and educational situation of children and youth at risk.

These groups constitute an excellent role model for children and youth as a "significant adult". This is the result of both their belief that change can be achieved and the systems of values they bring with them, as well as their commitment to helping children and youth at risk. These groups are a significant source of support for local educational and welfare programs and assist the local authorities in their work. They help ensure that everything is being done in order to help children and youth at risk fulfill their individual potential.

Training and Supervision of the Trustee

The work of the Trustee, who is a new social player working for the benefit of children at risk, requires an ongoing process to define and strengthen the approach of the job and includes initial and ongoing training, as well as professional oversight.

The Trustee's training process includes the following components: Basic training whose goal is to shape and build the Trustee and to provide him with theoretical and practical tools for carrying out his function. This function includes, among other things, the acquisition of tools for working with children and youth at risk, the foundations of working as a personal coach, tools for constructing a personal workplan, etc.

In addition, the process includes the deepening of knowledge and training in the area and "learning from colleagues" which is based on learning from case studies from practical work and involves Trustees learning from one another about the work process with the children and ways of dealing with problems that arise.

Their work also has the support of a professional which will involve group meetings and individual assistance for the Trustees. To this end, a network of local professional help will also be available that will rely on the input of professionals in the community (welfare, education, etc.). This will involve the creation of a hot line for the Trustees and meetings with the community professionals.

The Trustee's work environment is composed of three dimensions:

The Personal Dimension

This involves a workplan of "one-on-one" with the child, including the development of close relations with the child, his family and the therapeutic/educational staff dealing with him. The Trustee will serve as a role model for the child. He will provide the child with the tools/methods from the world of Coaching that are used to define personal goals and will guide him in achieving them in accordance with the goals defined for the child in his personal workplan, for example, improvement of functioning in school (perseverance, participation in class, etc.); strengthening social skills (acquiring friends, etc.); improving behavioral/normative aspects (violence, resolving conflicts, improving individual abilities such as self-image, etc.).

The Group Dimension

In addition to individual work with each child, the Trustee will work with 8 children in a group framework that will serve as a supportive social and learning environment for the child. Through group work, the Trustee will help the child develop social skills and social capabilities. In addition, the children will be given tools for dealing with violence, the resolution of conflict, activity on behalf of the group and the community and achieving goals as a group.

The Integrative Dimension

The Trustee will also have the function of integrator with the aim of improving access to existing services in the community and coordinating between those services. For example, coordination of extracurricular activity groups, linking up with professionals in the community, referral to relevant professional organizations according to the child's needs and the problems that arise in the relationship with him and in general building a community-wide support network for the child.

Within this framework, the Trustee is responsible for the ensuring the holistic nature of the children's personal workplan, including those aspects which the Trustee does not himself implement. For example, creating a link with a volunteer organization that will provide tutorial lessons; referral to professional authorities (welfare, education, etc.) if the child or his family is in distress; maintaining contact with the education system with regard to the performance of the child in school; contact with implementers of the extracurricular activity groups in which the child participates in order to chart his progress and to set goals within that framework; etc.