Enhancing Child and Youth Resilience Through School-Based, Wraparound Supports

Abstract

Poverty is a critical issue in Canada that needs to be researched and addressed. Many children and youth in Canada are impacted by poverty, this is defined by both low income and social hardships. Within the school environment, children, youth, and families experiencing poverty are more likely to have different needs and may require extra support to be able to fully participate in the educational journey and experience both physical and mental well-being (Basu, 2019; Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). One way to positively influence students and their families is by providing them with collaborative support between service agencies and schools to build resilience. Resilience is a person ability to overcome and thrive from impoverished and stressful life circumstances, which is associated with the amount number of supportive individuals and social supports in their life. One example of this collaborative support model is the All in For Youth Initiative (AIFY) in Edmonton, which is providing wraparound support in schools in order to foster resilience in children and youth and to bolster their life outcomes. The AIFY initiative has been active within Edmonton schools for the last five years and has been providing support and resources to five school communities. This support is provided in order to meet families’ basic needs, increase resilience, improve educational outcomes, and for students to ultimately graduate high school. Consequently, this thesis research examined two research questions: (1) Have any changes occurred in overall resilience and academic engagement from year 3 to 4 in the three cohorts of students who have participated in AIFY? (2) What are student perceptions of the AIFY supports, resources, and personnel? In order to address these two research questions, a multiple method secondary data analysis was utilized (Creswell, 1999; Vannoy & Robins, 2011). For this multiple method approach, the first research question was addressed by the quantitative data, including the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) and Engagement Survey adapted from the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Climate Survey over the past two-years. Qualitative interview data was used to understand students’ perspectives surrounding the AIFY initiative. This study found that over the last two years both resilience and academic engagement levels remained stable. Also, this research found that the AIFY supports, resources, and personnel are positively impacting students and families lives by meeting their basic needs, improving mental health, enhancing social relations, and increasing academic focus. The insights from this study show that collaborative school partnerships that provide wraparound support are helping students and families within their daily lives and they are being positively impacted by this support model.