Despite the program starting just one year ago, an increased demand has allowed the initiative to join forces in the London, Ont., region with the Unity Project, a local housing-outcome-focused emergency shelter. Barrier-free support is being provided by undergraduate and masters students from the School of Social Work at King鱿鱼视频app University College, a Roman Catholic, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with Western University. This month marks the beginning of the delivery of counselling support to the Unity Project after a period of preparation and research done by the students during the fall school term.
鈥淭his program was developed in part to respond to the significant community need for our homeless population, but also to respond to the broader community crisis of wait lists and demand for service,鈥� said M.K. Arundel, coordinator of Field Education for the School of Social Work at King鱿鱼视频app.
On a day-to-day basis, students provide counselling services 鈥� both online and in-person 鈥� such as intake assessments and resource connection under the supervision of a clinical supervisor. When they鈥檙e not providing support, the adult-learning model allows students to study cases they have worked on to create evidence-informed practice to best address other clients they will encounter.
It鱿鱼视频app been a time of steady development for the Community Support Centre. Initially the program offered counselling to shelter service users through Salvation Army and Mission 鱿鱼视频app of London. Now, the centre is able to provide free group counselling to community members both seeking housing and looking to maintain it.
The aim is to address components such as mental health, substance-use recovery and previous trauma in increasing wait times. The team at King鱿鱼视频app College understands and stresses the importance of reaching people in need as soon as possible, allowing clients to 鈥渂ypass鈥� unrealistic and costly delays.
鈥淲hen a person actually gets to the point where they鈥檙e ready to make that call for help, where they鈥檙e ready to engage in service, we don鈥檛 want to miss that window of opportunity,鈥� Arundel stressed. 鈥淪ome of those folks are calling because they鈥檙e in dire straits. They are without hope (and) there can be the risk of harm to themselves. We don鈥檛 want to miss that window of opportunity either.鈥�
Students are delivering the services in the field from last September until the end of July, leaving only a period of four to six weeks where there isn鈥檛 service being provided to those who need it most. This integration of theory and practice allows the School of Social Work to deliver the best experience for its clients and students. It allows them to find out what鱿鱼视频app working, what isn鈥檛 and how to improve care for the next client.
鈥淣ot only getting the direct practice experience of social work, but they鈥檙e also getting the more macro-level research-based content from the program as well,鈥� said Arundel.
The support centre is also working on the third phase of its initiative, facilitated peer support circles and professional development.
Apart from developing phase three further, Arundel is looking forward to more growth in 2024.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app why I get up in the morning,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a partnership and none of this can happen without eager, like-minded, cup-half-full people and we鈥檝e got a team of them. I鈥檓 excited every day to be able to work with them.鈥�