Life Skills Program
The Life Skills Program, is intended to include:
- 15 weeks of life skills training, combined;
- Integrated anger management training;
- 50 hour job placement that partners with local community businesses to gain
skills and experience; - Weekly classes in nutrition and budget planning through the adjoining Community Kitchen.
Participants will be guided by Certified Life Skills Coaches in groups of 8 to 10 in a classroom followed by individual community placements.
Program Outline:
We anticipate this running Monday through Thursday, 8:30 to 3:30 PM the program will benefit from a variety of delivery methodologies. Sensitivity to client differences of beliefs will be integral to all program activities; Elders and traditional learning/healing will play an important and visible role in our program. Home visits and personal contact will support registered participants in identifying and managing their specific life challenges. Participants attendance and positive program participation will be monitored daily and reviewed weekly. A certificate will be issued to participants using a pass/fail evaluation after the completion of the 50 hour job placement program is a mandatory requirement.
Life Skills coaches will review participants as they progress through the 15 week course. Weekly evaluations will consist of:
1. Attendance.
2. Respectful attitude toward self and others.
3. Participation in group discussion.
4. Completion of assigned tasks.
5. Willingness to do the job placement.
6. Transference of skills into daily living.
7. Keeping track of work hours with authorized signatures.
Skill Training Curriculum
Many of our potential clients have never been exposed to an environment where they could learn the life skills essential to their success in life.
- Life Skills, precisely defined, problem-solving behaviors that are appropriately and responsibly used in the management of personal affairs.
- Appropriate use requires an individual to adapt the behaviors to time and place.
- Responsible use requires maturity or accountability.
Without this foundation of social learning/problem-solving behaviors our clients cannot receive other living skills that will allow them to continue their education or seek and maintain employment. We offer the power of change by presenting positive alternatives to replace negative learned behaviors.
Our goal is simple to increase the quality of life for our participants and the people in their lives. Ideally this will show in areas such as: a decrease in involvement of crime; plans for further education; achieving part or full time employment; development of morals, values and dignity; commitment to counselling for further healing; reuniting families via child welfare; alleviation of grieving issues, judicial issues, personal history issues and anger management.
Life Skills Core Units
Our Life Skills curriculum will focus on five areas of life responsibility:
Although the above outlined sets our 15-week Life Skills Training course, please keep in mind participants may disclose an array of personal problems unique to them. When these problems lend themselves to be handled in the Life Skills group, they then become part of the course outline and will be dealt with at that time.
Intergrated Anger Management
Taming the Dragon
The dynamic Anger Management component called Taming the Dragon, will teach participants how to reduce or eliminate problems caused by inappropriate expressions of anger. They also learn how anger can become a problem, what triggers anger, and how to use appropriate conflict resolution strategies, with non-violent problem solving skills.
As they acquire these strategies they will learn to recognize thinking habits, build confidence, self-esteem and develop assertive methods to meet their needs. The participants will be required to do 3 hours per week of anger management during the program.
Work Experience
Participants
Participants registered in the Life Skills program will perform a mandatory 50 hour job placement program. This placement is part of the graduation process, and will allow us to offer further direction for continued education, or to have a permanent job placement by the end of the 15 weeks.
Contributing Businesses
We are actively seeking Southern Alberta businesses to participate in the 50 hour job placement program. We understand that developing life skills is a precursor to receiving and utilizing job training or even learn how to find employment. Participating business members will be given a set of guidelines that describe the specific Life Skills that are being developed in our program.