For Parents

Wyatt decreasing his human service client role through Roles Based Planning and Acquiring a new contract employee role Wyatt had a finished secondary school, had a job, some leisure roles, and connections with family. However, most of these roles were connected with human services or congregated/segregated purely on the basis of disability. Wyatt’s family knew he had more to offer everyday, non disabled, community life and that once people got to know him they would want to spend more time with him. But they weren’t sure where to start that thinking. So they engaged our team to take the through a Roles Based Planning Process. Through several sessions of bringing together Wyatt and his family, friends and paid supports, Wyatt had some initial plans to test ideas on what might be next. It was through this that Towards Better was able to connect Wyatt to a new contract paid admin role with state government. This provided Wyatt with new skills, connections, and him and family with a new belief of what was really possible and how many capabilities he had in the right setting and role. Wyatt and those in his network will now be gathering again to do some roles based thinking about ‘how to build on what was learned in this work role’ and ‘what are the range of entry level roles in office environments’ so they can have strategic “Role Goals” and objectives to make things happen together! Wyatt is truly becoming an adult through gathering lots of information, contributing to his future and asking who he wants to be involved in whatever way he chooses in his life.

Roles work in compliments. For example, to be in the role of teacher you must have students to teach and visa versa. And sometimes we at Towards Better know that we cannot be the “Jack of All Trades” or the answer for everything. The risk would be that we would do a lot but be good at nothing. So when Billy came to us seeking assistance to maintain his Secondary School Student role, we examined what type of pairing a secondary school student would need in order to have the best chances to acquire the role of Good Student. At the same time Billy also wanted to become a more organised young adult, so we knew there could likely be two roles to assist in each area. Towards Better began working alongside Billy as a coach/mentor/ resource guide in developing his skills in organising school materials, keeping a calendar, breaking down personal and school tasks, and building resourcefulness skills. Additionally, Towards Better assisted Billy and family to advertise for a tutor who had competence in subjects such as English and Math, so Billy could have high value assistance. Billy is now on track to complete secondary school, is exploring next steps with trade school and apprenticeships and has a team of people who you could say are the ‘Right People for the Right Roles’. Many times it takes more than a stock standard support worker.

Frank had left secondary school with lots of certificates, but no work role. He was very knowledgeable, but not sure what direction to take. The first job he had been offered was a part time labouring role, so he took it, though he wanted more from his future. Through our work with Frank we uncovered that Information Technology was a passion of his. We mapped out roles and opportunities and audited the local community and found a connection to the team at LiteHaus International who work in the IT and Not for Profit space. This offered an opportunity to volunteer and Frank could reaffirm his IT skills, learn new ones, and be among valued people in an everyday setting that may lead to further tech exploration. Over the last 18 months, Frank has been a massive contributor to the LiteHaus team and has had the privilege of going to their social launch events and fifth anniversary gala event at The Ville. His success in this role has also boosted his own confidence and he has now started the COMPTIA+ Certification Course and is seeking out a mentor or tutor to ensure he can get the most value out of this course. Frank’s story is an example of having the right people in an organisation as the team at LiteHaus are an extremely welcoming, open minded, and solutions focused group that demonstrate inclusion in practice and always recognise the skills of others. So much so that for Frank, 2023 may now bring a part time IT Technician role for him at LiteHaus where he can finally take the next steps in his career transition and entry into the IT field! Well done Frank and LiteHaus International! Role goals: An Information Technology Enthusiast and part time labouring employee becoming an IT Volunteer, then an IT Student and changing careers to become a Part Time IT Employee
Frameworks used: 1 on 1 Consulting, Community Auditing, Social Role Valorization