Jon Osmond (centre) is on the way of making his hairdressing dream become a reality, with the help of boss Filipa Watts and Mission Australia’s Shannon Miller. 87937 Photo: MEAGAN ROGERS
By MELISSA MEEHAN
JON Osmond just needed a little help to make his dream of becoming a hairdresser come into fruition.
The Pakenham teenager knew what he wanted to do but after leaving state residential care didn’t have the extra money lying around to pay for his studies.
That’s where new program Springboard stepped in, helped him start training and Jon is now on his way to living his dream.
It’s symbolic in name but the government and service providers are helping Springboard will help give the much needed boost young people leaving child protection residential care.
Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge launched the new Southern Metropolitan program at Dandenong’s Town Hall on Tuesday as well as announcing that there would be a study to research young people experiences transitioning from state care.
Springboard providers will offer one-on-one intensive support to help young people aged 16-21 leaving care to engage in education and training and gain the skills needed to secure long-term employment.
Jon said Springboard had already made a huge difference in his life in his short time of being part of the program.
“It’s helped me a lot,” Jon said.
“It is a great program.”
The idea is to provide a bridge to education and employment for these kids who often turn to a life of alcohol, drug abuse and crime.
Jon’s education and work co-ordinator Shannon Miller from Mission Australia said the new program was a great tool for service providers in the area who often saw young people struggling to make a difference in their lives.
“We see a lot of young people who know what they want to do, like Jon, but didn’t have the means to buy textbooks or tools of trade,” he said.
“From meeting Jon only three months ago, I can see that a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.”
Led by Mission Australia, the Springboard consortium is made up of a group of speciality service providers from the southern metropolitan region, with $16.9 million in funding provided by the Victorian Government over four years.
“This is immensely important as both national and overseas studies identify young care leavers having poorer education and employment outcomes in comparison to their peers in the general population,” Ms Wooldridge’s said.
“In 2010 the Victorian Ombudsman, in his report on out-of-home care, identified the need for improved educational supports for young people in out-of-home care in order to bring their education and employment capabilities in line with their peers.”
