Supporting Young Men’s Mental Health in Toowoomba

https://www.topblokes.org.au/

We plan to deliver 5 x 6-month mentoring programs to 60 young males to the high-priority schools on our wait list within Toowoomba and the surrounds. Each program is structured to improve young males’ mental, social and physical health to inspire them to achieve their potential. The program strengthens the emotional resilience of teenage boys while improving their engagement and perception within the wider community.

Across 20 weeks, 14-17 year old males participate in weekly interactive workshops covering such topics as: Risk Taking and Peer Pressure, Mental Health, Respectful Relationships, Online Behaviour and Consequences (including sexting, pornography and cyber bullying), Alcohol and Drugs, Racism and Anger Management.

Our current program evaluation framework, developed with Ernst & Young, measures program impact, in particular, degree of improved mental health, lifestyle behaviours and attitudes, knowledge and skill-sets. In 2019, EY launched the Top Blokes Social Impact Study, a three year study that examined the impact of the Top Blokes Mentoring Program. In this report it showed the degree of improvement in mental health, lifestyle behaviours and attitudes, knowledge and skill-sets from our programs such as:

• The program achieved a cost-benefit ratio of 9x
• Young males are 4 times better off with a mentor than a young man who doesn’t have a mentor.
• The program’s top outcomes achieved were mental health, decreased antisocial behaviour and academic performance
• The program helped increase a young man’s attendance at school and reduced the rate of detention and suspension rates, in some cases between 20-100%
• The study found that the program helped schools reduce the time they spent dealing with boy’s behaviour. Schools saved on average $33,000 in avoided time spent while the boys were in the program and an additional $20,000 following the program.