Slide Notes Hello, my name is Britney Brewster and I work for Street - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Slide Notes

• STREET SMART VENTURES
• Passion, Purpose, Progress.
• Britney Brewster, Partner
• 860-989-2721
• Britney@ssventures.com
• www.ssventures.com

Hello, my name is Britney Brewster and I work for Street Smart Ventures. Today I am presenting some initial research that we have begun into why young women affected by various mental health concerns are performing so well in our entrepreneurial work program. One thing that I have heard in a presentation during the conference is that you don’t expect to see business in mental health treatment. I consider work therapy, so prepare to hear the

• pposite here.

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• What we do
• Street Smart Ventures creates structured work experience programs designed to meet the needs of various customers and special populations.

We believe entrepreneurship, work, and learning can be integrated into highly motivating and mentor rich activities to teach life, work, and academic skills.

• We use a highly engaging and flexible framework aptly named the Work and Learn model. It integrates hands on learning, positive mentoring,

entrepreneurship and work experiences. This model has been successfully adapted for middle school, high school, and adult populations.

• Why we do it
• Our mission is to provide our clients and communities with creative, practical, and engaging sets of supports, opportunities and services. This is

designed for individuals, groups, and organizations that are committed to social change and a sense of fulfillment.

• Our vision is to work, live and play in a kind and engaged world with abundant possibilities for all.
• How we do it
• By stacking the deck for success! Tapping into Passion, Purpose and creating Progress.
• W&L Model provides employment opportunities and is a learning environment for its participants. The framework teaches essential soft skills

(communication, leadership, influencing, interpersonal skills, creativity and professional skills) and enhances individual characteristics proven beneficial in educational and employment success (perseverance, emotional regulation skills, delayed gratification) and develops occupational skills.

• Our W&L Model has been successfully implemented to help youth and adults in major cities across Connecticut, New Orleans, and Virginia. In

2002 we were awarded the Promising and Effective Practices Network Award by the Department of Labor and National Employment Coalition for best practices in youth employment and positive youth development.

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• SSV has worked with Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Young Adult Services Department for the past 12 years adapting and

implementing our W&L program statewide for all of their YAS clients.

• Young Adult Services- subset population
• The young adult services division of the DMHAS serves emerging adults (18-25 years old) who have experienced:
• multiple hospitalizations prior to the age of 18
• complex developmental trauma which must present as a co-occurring axis I diagnosis
• average of 7-10 out of home placements prior to the age of 16
• significant attachment disorders which make it extremely difficult to engage in treatment
• may have comorbid substance abuse issues
• have not had the opportunity to learn any of the necessary life skills or emotion regulation skills to cope with daily challenges
• Summed up in one word: Vulnerable
• What they need:
• Become employed
• Develop independent living skills, including financial literacy
• Build support systems and engage with their community

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• YASBIZ
• Young Adult Service Business, or YASBIZ, is an adaptation of our W&L Model created over the past decade with direct care staff and their emerging
• adults. The program runs statewide including 25 state and non-profit mental health agencies and community partners.
• The program consists of direct care staff from employment services, quality of life departments, social clubs and ACT teams. We call these staff

Advisors and they work directly with clients in the Young Adult Services Program who become our Entrepreneurs.

• During the course of the year, Entrepreneurs utilize our start up workbook to launch their very own business project with the help of their

Advisor, Mentors and program peers. After a funding pitch, they begin to produce their product or service and prepare to market themselves at their agency, at our Work & Learn events, and within their communities.

• These business projects begin small, as we stack the deck, and grow with our Entrepreneurs and their agencies. In some cases, these businesses

launch work crews benefitting their agency or become stand-alone store fronts in their community. The ripple effect within the agencies and communities is something that we have not yet begin to measure.

• Examples:
• BO, IC, Bridges

Visit this link to see the video https://youtu.be/BvtVGXdDwA0 To see more videos from YASBIZ check out Main YASBIZ on YouTube

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• YASBIZ MEASURES
• Outcomes
• Collected quarterly and have been completed by Advisors or co-occurring documentation with Entrepreneurs
• Rated everything from specific skill development to intrinsic motivation
• Event Surveys
• Optional survey that is to be completed during our Work & Learn events. They cover things like program satisfaction, work preparation needs and cooperation with

peers.

• Interesting Leads
• Previous data revealed that programming has drawn female participants at a higher rate than male participants. Based on data we have collected, the YASBIZ program participant ratio is nearly

60% female and 40% male. These statistics were compared to the DMHAS young adult participant ratios which currently are 60% male and only 40% female.

• Initial background research supports the idea that business-based programming is typically more engaging to young men than young women.
• Entrepreneurship opportunities are still dominated by male proprietors, which make the increased exposure of women to entrepreneurship profound.
• This left us with some hunches:
• What themes are connecting with women
• Gender Studies, young adult, skills training, empowerment, cooperation, flexibility, creative, teams, successful halo effect
• Do female staff have something to do with this?
• Are we targeting skills that women already innately possess?
• Related to mental health coping skills
• Emotional vs. physical
• Look at the diff kinds of businesses
• Removing the business obstacles

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• 2019 RESEARCH
• The purpose of this study was to examine potential contributing factors to the present skew in female participation in programming. We will specifically

explore gender norms, attitudes toward work, value of role models, coping skills, preexisting work and life skills compared to specific skill attainment. We will explore relationship building within the program, value of experiences gained within the program setting and how applicable those experiences have been in real life work settings. These conclusions will help us make recommendations for engagement techniques and how to successfully target solutions for young men and women transitioning to adulthood, independence and work they enjoy.

• This research was initial front-end work. We conducted qualitative, grounded, exploratory research.
• Methodology: Two researchers held two gender isolated focus groups, used semi-structured interviews which resulted in valuable qualitative research

to further our understanding and generate hypotheses.

• Our next step will be to conduct a typical experiment that would utilize a test group and a control group. This research is hypothesis generating and is

not impacted by bias, and objectivity is not a concern in this research study.

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• FINDINGS
• Researchers used a grounded theory research method to move through the qualitative data collected and determine conclusions. Analysis of the text

including open coding, value-based coding, and categorization of ideas and development of themes will be used.

• After preliminary coding, we were left with three categories, each with plenty of sub-categories to give us insight into our hypotheses for further testing.
• As I continue through the findings, you will see quotes from the qualitative data that include contributions from both male and female focus groups

speaking about the program, their experiences and opinions. I will point out the important findings that came specifically from the female focus group which is leading us to our additional research.

97.5% YASBIZ program has given me confidence to try new things 92.5% YASBIZ program helped me become part of a larger community

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• SOCIAL INTERACTIVE BENEFITS (PASSION)
• Sub-category Samples
• Participation/engagement
• Peer influence
• Community
• Self-expression/pride
• Contribution
• Financial independence
• Self Reports from event surveys:
• 66.7% agree completely- People in YASBIZ have a positive influence on each other, I am

excited to learn new skills from my peers

• 65% agree completely- I am good at managing my responsibility
• 92.5%- YASBIZ program helped me become a part of a larger community
• 97.5%- YASBIZ program has given me confidence to try new things

Slide Notes Continued

• Our Insights
• Work is safety. “Staying out of trouble” The value here is protection. While they are not being arrested, reprimanded or in the hospital, they

remain safe. Their futures and goals are intact as long as they can operationalize on this idea. YASBIZ allows them to practice and achieve safety.

• Work becomes an external protective factor. Providers talk a lot about structure because these vulnerable clients tend to bounce from crisis to

crisis and have difficulty avoiding crisis aka trouble. When there is a deficit in internal regulation, external structure becomes helpful in regulation while they learn for themselves.

• YASBIZ is helping them achieve a developmental task.
• Several examples of this were clear in various statements about being own boss, doing what I want to do, the clients want to control themselves

and the act of work allows them to control their external structure and practice internal control.

• Hypothesis 1
• How are women using work to build personal safety?
• Are they learning how to independently structure their time because their system provided external controls are played out?
• How does “contribution” and “self-expression” create engagement techniques that are valuable enough to overcome anxiety, shyness and the

challenges of joining a new program?

95% YASBIZ program has given me skills to be more independent 95% I like to participate in the YASBIZ program because I experience success and I would like to continue to be successful.

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• AUTONOMY AND INDEPENDENCE (PURPOSE)
• Sub category Samples
• Something to call my own
• Create
• My life-I want to do what I want to do
• Educate myself
• Examples from data
• “Making money, you use money for your future, getting your own place, furniture, raising your kids, buying food. If you want to have a future,

you need to have a job.”

• “To learn and participate in things that I can call my own and contribute my creativity.”
• “I wanted to join because I have seen my peers and I waited until I saw peers from my agency doing stuff. I asked them and they told me to talk

to my Advisor. Then I interacted with other peers from other places and shared our commonalities.”

• Self Reports
• 95% - YASBIZ program has given me skills to be more independent, I like to participate in the YASBIZ program because I experience success and I would

like to continue to be successful.

• 61.7% agree completely- Teaching skills to my peers helps me build confidence

Slide Notes Continued

• Our Insights
• There is a lot of reference to community building and creating external supports and a positive network. There is acknowledgement that in order

to achieve independence, they must contribute and learn from their peers.

• Self-expression was widely reported as a motivation for engagement and participation, connection to peers and purpose for life enhancement.

Along this theme is also the reporting of self-teaching, testing knowledge and products and increasing preparedness.

• Hypothesis 2
• Testing control over life is the pathway to true independence.
• How are women utilizing this program to test their autonomy?
• How are they using their ability to create and express themselves to better advocate for their own needs?
• How are women using their view of their own future to make this program work for their needs?
• How does project choice influence women’s interest or engagement?

92.5% YASBIZ program helped me gain a better attitude about work 90% YASBIZ program has given me the skills I need to get a job

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• SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND PRACTICE (PROGRESS)
• Sub-category Samples
• Overcoming mental health obstacles
• Depression, anxiety, isolation, emotional regulation, negative self-talk
• Intrinsic Motivators
• Responsibility, patience, self-direction, motivation, positivity, persistence, confidence, overcoming challenges
• Extrinsic Motivators
• Professionalism, time management, preparedness, competition, sales skills, feedback, knowledge testing
• “Safe Space”
• Buildup, enjoyable, calm/happy, helps me, provides direction and advice
• Examples from Data
• “I joined to express my talent for writing. I was doing something prior that took a lot of time. Now I sell my poetry about depression and
• vercoming my depression. I hope to connect with people who feel the same. Expressing myself, doing something I want to do, and I am not

being forced to do it. I help inspire others and open the door. I get to be spontaneous.”

• “Interacting with people, learning from other people and getting ideas and feedback about what I can do better. That’s how it is similar to my
• ther work experiences.”
• “Helps my independence by each event teaching wise. I didn’t know how to put certain things together. Made my confidence higher and higher. I

am also more patient then when I started.”

Slide Notes Continued

• Self Reports
• 92.5%- YASBIZ program helped me gain a better attitude about work
• 90%- YASBIZ program has given me the skills I need to get a job, YASBIZ program has helped me figure out what types of jobs I might like
• Our Insights
• In this category there is a lot of credit given to overcoming mental health barriers, obstacles and challenges.
• Vocational and social skill development by practicing in a safe real-world setting.
• YASBIZ provides a safe space to learn the skills necessary for successful work experiences.
• Our young adults have not had the opportunity to learn previously due to their disrupted placements, hospitalizations, incarcerations, etc.

I think one of the keys to building skills is being able to observe them in others (Advisors, Coaches, Role Models) and then being able to practice them over and over in a safe, supportive, and motivational environment. The personal coach role can be filled by many ... including family, peers, professional staff and community partners. The key is that they are helping make the individual successful and giving them a sense of positive movement forward. I think our tools, business projects and events are designed to create a positive learning experience linked to the individuals interests

• Hypothesis 3
• How are women drawing upon their peer network to advance their goals?
• How is an effective network providing the external support women are looking for to take steps toward greater independence?
• What are the key characteristics in providing safety and this safe space?
• Viewing others try, fail or succeed?
• Working collaboratively?
• Are coaches, role models or mentors a necessary part of growth?

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• NEXT STEPS
• Some things we observed eliminated some of the initial hunches. Gender of Advisors made no difference in engagement, relationship, or mentorship.
• Confirmed confidence growth, skill development and internal and external motivators with patience being the most credited skill learned.
• Men mentioned money and independence as their prime characteristics for program and work while women mentioned self-expression and

contribution as main characteristics. There may be some internal vs external motivations to test/consider.

• Moving forward means testing these hypotheses with female participants.
• We hope to continue with mixed method data collection including surveys and additional focus groups.
• We hope that the results will help us determine how to engage young men easier and hopefully make recommendations for programs needing to skew

engagement.

• More research provided in 2020!

Visit this link to see the video https://youtu.be/MMD_6h2_8iU To find more videos from Street Smart Ventures, visit us on YouTube @ Street Smart Ventures