Working with Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adaptations and Insights from Youth Workers.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the world's population into a crisis. Social workers and other professionals working with youth have been front-line witnesses to the accentuated negative impact of this public health emergency on youth and their families as well as to the creative adaptive strategies of youth and their families. Purpose: Because youth workers are often the first to identify and respond to the needs and desires of children and youth, it is critical to better understand the ways in which youth workers adapted, coped, and intervened within the context of this global health, social, and economic crisis. Youth workers play a central role in the lives of children and youth. Their perspective is key to recognizing both practice innovation and organizational impediments. Method: 31 youth workers in mental health, housing, primary care, and child protection participated in focus groups discussing the impact of the pandemic during waves 1 and 2 on the youth and families they work with and, consequently, on their own practice. Results: include two central domains that organize findings around adapting professional practice to crisis situations: (1) the first-person experience of working with youth during the pandemic; (2) the changing needs and risks faced by youth and their families. Discussion: These domains include discussions around participant emotions and feelings of isolation, helplessness, and fear as well as adaptability. The article concludes with recommendations to support youth workers and adapt organizational structures to help protect youth from increased risk and vulnerability during a pandemic or other crises.

Voices of Teens and Young Adults on the Subject of Teleconsultation in the COVID-19 Context.

This article describes the perceptions of adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 25 years who live in Québec (Canada) and obtained health services via teleconsultation for the first time, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven young people who had received physical health services (medicine, physiotherapy, speech therapy, or nutritionist) participated in virtual semi-structured interviews. These interviews shed light on how these adolescents and young adults experienced the adaptation of the intervention and how effective they perceived the intervention to be. The article concludes with some thoughts for practitioners.

Step In, Step Out from the First Lockdown: An Exploration of COVID-19 Perceptions in France and Quebec.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to describe and analyze the role of psychological and behavioral factors on perceptions of COVID-19 in France and Quebec at three different times during the pandemic. DESIGN: We conducted three qualitative and quantitative studies (Study 1 N = 255, Study 2 N = 230, Study 3 N = 143). Participants were asked to evaluate psychological and behavioral measures: at the beginning of lockdown (Study 1), during lockdown (Study 2), and during lockdown exit (Study 3). RESULTS: Results of Study 1 show that perceptions of COVID-19 are organized around fear and a sense of threat. During the lockdown, participants mentioned for the first time the health practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Study 2). Psychological and social impacts constitute a central theme in participants' discourse (Study 2 and 3). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that perceptions of risk during a pandemic are socially constructed. Perceptions seem to be influenced by the political and health management of a territory and by the evolution of behavioral and psychological responses.

Promoting autonomous functioning among youth in care: a program evaluation.

Over the past few years, considerable research has highlighted the challenges posed by social reinsertion of youth. For youth who leave an alternative living environment at the outset of adulthood, this integration is all the more difficult on account of psychosocial and health factors and a lack of support in preparing for independent living and employment requirements. Although they possess various qualifications and resources for making this difficult transition, many find themselves relying on public-funded services as they enter adulthood. After a brief outline of the contextual organization of youth protection offered in Quebec, the author presents an intervention program that aims to prepare youth in high-risk categories for social reintegration and independent living. This is followed by a presentation of preliminary results stemming from a three-year pilot study and an outline for intervention and support for troubled youths who are entering adulthood.