Services for Youth in Newcomer Communities

Services for Youth in Newcomer Communities is an ambitious project being run by OCASI. The goal of this project is to develop a guide for settlement and other social service workers on the best practices to work with and counsel newcomer youth. The guide will be the result of research, consultation and a one-day colloquium.

Research will be conducted by youth and service providers, after receiving training on community-based research methods. The findings of this research will then be shared at a colloquium attended by newcomer youth workers and leaders within the newcomer youth community. The outcome of this discussion will be the development of a much-needed guide of best practices for working with newcomer youth.

The principal goals of SYNC are to:

  • Identify best practices of working with newcomer youth
  • Highlight agencies and programs which have implemented best practices
  • Help newcomer youth get access to excellent services in their communities
  • Provide youth with an opportunity to develop leadership and research skills
  • Articulate the expectations and needs of youth from the settlement counseling context

Commemorating Aqsa Parvez

Next month is the anniversary of Aqsa Parvez’s death, a 16 year old Muslim girl from Toronto who was murdered at the hands of her family.     
To commemorate her life, Toronto Life has produced a cover page feature on Aqsa for their December 2008 issue which can be found online here.
In response to this full feature coverage, [...]