We are now in the snapshot month of November, where those of you who provide information, advice and referral have the opportunity to use the outcome surveys provided by the department. As noted at the recent data training events held across NSW, the surveys in their current format were not considered youth friendly and as a result YAPA have developed youth-friendly versions that can be used not only by youth specific services, events or projects but anyone engaging with young people within the community with their Community Builders funding.
The youth survey designs were trialled with several services and the designed picked reflects a simple eye catching look that can be easily, and cost effectively reproduced by services. The content of the surveys has been of much debate and while we are happy the questions satisfy what we need to know currently, as we move through this trial year the phrasing of some questions may change depending on the feedback from the sector.
There are 2 versions of the survey an A4 version and a postcard sized version, both can be edited to include your unique service I.D number (top right of the PDF when downloaded). They have the same content but we wanted to give services a choice in the way they surveyed young people to allow us to identify what format that may allow us to collect a higher volume of data so we can develop this into the future.
There have also been discussions about alternative ways of delivering the surveys. YAPA would encourage services to try out different ways, perhaps using the questions with a facilitator in group settings or perhaps using the surveys in IT classes, as long as the questions are asked exactly as they are written it allows us to aggregate data.
Be creative, the more surveys completed the more data we have to work with. If you do complete the surveys in an alternative way just mark on each survey (or if in a group provide a tally on one sheet) the way in which you have delivered it. This trial year gives us some great opportunities to show how responsive and flexible the sector really is.
We will in the next year look into how we could integrate the survey into social media and improve the survey for different demographic groups.
If you have any further questions or any feedback please do not hesitate to call me.
To download the surveys please complete the form below (so we know who is using the surveys and we can keep you up to date). When you submit the form, your browser will redirect to a page where you can download the surveys.