The USAID/Eastern & Southern Caribbean Youth Resilience, Inclusion and Empowerment Activity (Y-RIE) engages and empowers youth and other key partners to improve youth, family, and community resilience to crime and violence. Y-RIE is a five-year activity being implemented in Saint Lucia, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago by DAI Global. Y-RIE has the following four objectives:
Objective 1: Government-provided social services strengthened.
Objective 2: Learning outcomes among focus youth improved.
Objective 3: Focus youth preparedness to enter the workforce.
Objective 4; Community and family systems strengthened.
In Guyana, Y-RIE’s main partner ministries are the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MHSSS), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Y-RIE’s interventions will support youth between the ages of 10-29. Special focus is given to youth within this age cohort in the communities of New Amsterdam (Mount Sinai, Symthfield, Buddan Scheme, Little Caracas, Tucber), Sophia (Fields C, D & E) and Albouystown/Werk-en-Rust (including Charlestown).
Y-RIE, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Regional PTA, will implement a parent-friend outreach program to strengthen the relationship between schools and families. The program will pair experienced and supportive parents with those facing challenges, providing a platform for peer support, guidance, and practical advice. This parent-to-parent support system can be crucial in preventing delinquency, improving educational outcomes, and fostering stronger school-parent relationships.
The coordinator (s) will be responsible for coordinating and implementing the parent-friend outreach program. This will involve recruiting parents of identified youth, providing parent education training, parent-friend pairing, ongoing support and activity monitoring, feedback sessions, and evaluation.
By the end of the program, the coordinator (s) will assist Y-RIE in identifying parents who have successfully demonstrated behavior change, improved school engagement, and improved their children's academic performance. The goal is to recognize the achievements of the participating parents and celebrate the program's positive impact.
The activity seeks to strengthen community and family systems by enabling family access to risk-informed interventions and improving the capacity of focus organizations to provide risk-informed services. This robust risk reduction program brings together the school community and the family of at-risk youth in Guyana to address issues of increasing school commitment and engagement for students displaying behaviors inimical to academic success and school completion. Parental neglect and lack of involvement in the educational journey of the student, poor academic achievement, poor attendance, and truancy are often associated with students involved in delinquent behavior, including crime and violence. To address this, Y-RIE will hire a consultant to deliver training to the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), Guidance and Counselling Officers (GCOs), and select parents using the Youth Connection curriculum to enhance their skills in positive youth development, risk reduction strategies, and trauma-informed approaches. The activity will be implemented by Y-RIE in partnership with the Ministry of Education through the National PTA and targets:
· Headteachers and PTA representatives from fourteen (14) schools that service Y-RIE focus communities: Charlestown, New Campbellville, St Winifred, Lodge, Carmel, Dolphin, New Central, Berbice Educational Institute and Vryman’s Ervin, St Stephens, St, Pius X, Smith’s Memorial and Sophia Primary)
· Representatives of the Regional PTAs of East and South Georgetown and New Amsterdam
· Guidance and Counselling Officers of each of these schools
The training will bring together key players in the school and home environments for collaboration to create supportive environments that promote emotional well-being and academic success for students. In addition to the Youth Connections training to be provided, and to reinforce additional support for parents, Y-RIE will establish a parent outreach and mentorship program (Parent Friend) that will foster parent-to-parent relationships that can be leveraged to provide parents of children displaying delinquent behaviors with the relevant tools and resources they need to thrive and support their children’s development. Parent Friend will pair 45 parents of students at risk of school expulsion with fifteen (15) supportive parents, to create a network that promotes positive parental supervision, improved educational outcomes, improved discipline and stronger school engagement. The Parent Friend program will ensure that the school community enhances its ability to respond to the needs of the family thereby building school AND family protective factors with the ultimate goal of fostering healthy, resilient young people.
a) Objective
Working closely with Y-RIE, the MoE, and the Activity Content Creator, the Community Parent Engagement (CPE) Coordinators will implement a comprehensive parent engagement strategy to foster strong relationships between parents and the school. This strategy will involve community outreach and engagement, parent education and training, building solid parent-school partnership relationships, and monitoring and evaluation. Included in this strategy, the CPE coordinators will establish a parent-to-parent peer outreach mentorship program called Parent Friend to improve school engagement and contribute to strengthened family and community systems.
The CPE Coordinator(s) will report to Y-RIE’s Social Services Advisor and are expected to collaborate with the Ministry of Education School Support and the National PTA Units. Y-RIE’s Program Implementation Specialist will support all costs and logistics related to implementing the activity, and the Consultant is expected to coordinate closely with them throughout the activity.
Eligible individuals should have the following minimum qualifications, experience, and competencies:
Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Sociology, Psychology, Social Work, Counseling, Youth Work, Community Development, Education, or a closely related field.
Experience:
· At least 3-5 years of experience working with parents, families, at-risk youth, communities.
· Familiarity with the educational system
· Excellent verbal and written communication skills, which are essential for building relationships with parents, teachers, community gatekeepers, and for reporting.
· Minimum of 3 years of continuous experience applying Positive Youth Development, Trauma-Informed Care, risk-informed approaches, and parenting training in a professional setting
· Experience delivering training within a professional setting that draws upon adult learning principles.
Competencies
· Excellent communication, presentation, and report writing skills, with the ability to convey complex information to diverse audiences.
· Ability to work independently and as part of a team, demonstrating adaptability and a collaborative approach to achieving shared goals.
· Strong supervisory and leadership experience, with the ability to effectively manage and motivate a team of professionals.
Computer skills: Ability to work with Microsoft Office Suite – Excel/Word/PowerPoint, Google Doc
a) Tasks
Activity One: Onboarding of CPECs
Timeline: January to February 2025
1.1 Along with Y-RIE, will attend a PTA meeting for identified schools within their respective Y-RIE Focus communities or schools attended by youth at risk from the focus communities. The team's participation is to provide information on the activity to the general PTA members and to observe the PTA's conduct.
1.2 Support Y-RIE in developing a Risk Register to document potential risks. This register will systematically identify, document, and manage potential risk factors and propose mitigation strategies.
1.3 Establish guidelines for the parent-friend program, including confidentiality protocols, referral procedures, and support frameworks with the support of the Y-RIE technical team. These guidelines will also include conversation starters, instructions on providing referrals to parents for additional support within the school or community, etc.
1.4 In consultation with the Y-RIE, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, the CPECs will use the inputs from various engagements with families to develop tailored messages to promote behaviors aligned with Y-RIE goals, such as risk reduction, trauma-informed approaches, and positive youth development. These messages will be used as references and talking points for the various engagements by parents and others throughout this activity.
1.5 Participate in the 10-day Youth Connections Training as a participant. This participation is intended to equip the CPECs with the knowledge of trauma-informed care, positive youth development and risk reduction that they need to support parents during the execution of the outreaches. It will also support relationship-building within the school community.
Activity 2: Parent-to-Friend Support and Outreaches
Timeline – January to June 2025
2.1 Liaise with the school administrator, GCOs, Y-RIE CMMOs, and PEERS to identify children who will be participating in PEERS activities and determine which parents will be eligible for participation in the parent-friend outreach.
2.2 Coordinate an initial meeting with parents before the implementation of parent-to-friend outreaches to discuss their roles, responsibilities, and expectations during the parent-to-friend outreaches. Parents will be apprised of reporting procedures, protocols for handling sensitive information/matters, referral pathways, etc.,
2.3 Convene group and individual sessions with PEERS participants and their parents to explain the program’s structure and goals and answer any questions.
2.4 Develop a matching process to pair parents with compatible parent-friends, aiming to foster meaningful relationships and provide mutual support.
2.5 Support from the Y-RIE Technical Team and the Case Management and Monitoring Officers will pair parents of at-risk students (those in PEERS) with 45 supportive parents to create a peer-to-peer support network, which will meet formally and informally throughout the activity. The CPEC for Georgetown will work with 30 (15 per from Albouystown (including Werk-en-Rust and Charlestown) and 15 Sophia (Fields – C, D, E) support and the CPEC for New Amsterdam, will work with 15 support parents.
2.6 Continuously support the PTAs and the MoE in forming parent-friend outreaches. This will involve the pairing of a supportive parent with another parent whose child is at risk for delinquent practices and the likelihood of dropping out of school. Pairing a strong parent supporting another parent facing challenges can be a powerful tool in providing empowerment and guidance, peer support, practical advice and a sense of community, parent to parent support can play a vital role in preventing delinquency, improving educational outcomes, and strengthening school-parent relationships.
2.7 Collaborate with the coordinator of PEERs to exchange updates on the progress of the parent-friend outreach and PEERs.
2.8 Organize two-day workshops for parents in regions 4 and 6 using the Better Parenting handbook from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, supplemented with Y-RIE-specific risk reduction content. The MoE staff will deliver these as their contribution to the activity.
2.9 In collaboration with Y-RIE and the school’s PTA, the private sector will be engaged to form partnerships to bolster Family Forward Initiatives, such as the provision of care packages and other support, potential sponsorship, or co-branding of billboards for the schools that successfully implemented the initiative.
2.10 Collaborate with government and non-governmental organizations to initiate/facilitate referrals to other services for parents.
Activity 3 – Feedback and Data Collection
February to July 2025
3.1 Collaborate with Y-RIE to hold two feedback seminars per school term with headteachers, parents, and other PTA members for each of the participating schools. These feedback sessions are intended to serve as a forum for parents to share how the program is helping them improve their parenting. The sessions will be held with each of the three schools.
3.2 Attend, along with Y-RIE, regular engagements with the Coordinator, School Support Unit, and other MoE officials to provide updates on the activity's outcome and guidance on the Ministry replicating the program across the various educational districts.
3.3 In consultation with Y-RIE will collect and analyze feedback to identify emerging trends, specific needs, and areas for program refinement. Using this data-driven approach, they will make necessary adjustments, ensuring the support network remains relevant.
3.4 In consultation with the Activity Content Creator will collate all data to highlight and celebrate successes achieved through the activity and finalize plans to recognize parents and schools, including the sharing of testimonials to inspire continued engagement and participation.
3.5 Submit a detailed report, in collaboration with the PEERS activity coordinator, highlighting the achievements of parent-friends. This report will include specific examples of their increased engagement in school activities, improved communication with teachers, and positive impacts on their child's academic and social-emotional development.
Activity 4 - Activity Close Out
Timeline: August 2025
4.1 Y-RIE will host an After-Activity Review session with parents of youth at risk and the members of the PTA, and teachers/headteachers who participated in the activities. This review session will provide a structured opportunity for the team to reflect on the activity, identify challenges or difficulties that arose and provide opportunities to address these weaknesses in future iterations; highlight what worked well and how the positives can be reinforced by positive practices, and glean valuable insights from participants, consultant and parents for deeper understanding of the underlying reasons for successes or failures, leading to more effective and impactful initiatives. The CPE consultant will identify parents for participation in the session.
4.2 Submit detailed monthly progress reports outlining the key activities undertaken, accomplishments achieved, and challenges encountered. These reports will include qualitative and quantitative data, challenges, and lessons learned.
4.3 Prepare a comprehensive final report summarizing the overall impact of the parent-friend outreach program. This report will include an overview of the program, key achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations. It should also include relevant documents such as photos, videos, testimonials, and statistical data to show program impact.
Task and Timeframe
· Inception Report and Parent-Friend Engagement Plan, including pairing of parents, visits to schools, community engagement, feedback sessions, timelines, etc.- January – 2 days
· Implement parent-friend outreaches-- January to June 2025
· Host four (4) feedback sessions with participants of the parent-friend outreaches at each participating school- February, March, April, June 2025
· Conduct 2 days of parent skill training sessions with parents- March-April 2025
· Fortnightly meeting with Y-RIE Technical Team for PEERs and Family Forward- January – June 2025
1. Inception report (Due Date- Two weeks after signing of contract.)
Prepare a 3–5-page inception report to include: The consultancy work plan and a schedule to complete deliverables in GANTT chart format, an implementation plan for the parent-to-parent outreaches and individualized supervision.
Evidence of Completion Required- Submitted report plan
2. 5 monthly Report on the Parent-to-Parent Outreach (Due Date- February, March, April, May, June)
A comprehensive report on the outcome of this support that also includes a case study for each of the three priority schools that chronicle behavior change within the family.
Evidence of Completion Required-The report should include:
· The number of persons paired,
· communities they are from,
· success stories, challenges and lessons learned.
· Number of home visits made.
· Outcomes and impact
· Recommendations
· One Case Studies/testimonial per month
· Update on community engagement and collaboration
3. Draft Activity Report- (Due Date-Two weeks after the completion of the intervention)
Submit a draft activity report using the Y-RIE final reporting template.
Evidence of Completion Required- Draft report on the parent-friend interventions, including.
· How many sessions completed
· Feedback from Parents,
· Analysis of the parent-friend session
· Number of home visits conducted.
· Feedback from students
· Feedback from school administration on student academic, emotional and social performance
· Plan for sustaining the intervention.
4. Final Activity Report- (Due Date- The first week of August 2025)
Re-submission of the final report including the incorporation of Y-RIE feedback. This report must be submitted six days after receiving feedback on the report.
Evidence of Completion Required -The final report will incorporate all of Y-RIE feedback provided in the draft report submitted
This consultancy's performance period is expected to begin in January 2025 and continue through July 2024, at which time it could be extended as agreed upon by both parties.
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