Partners
Locations
Alberta
British Columbia
Newfoundland and Labrador
Ontario
Investment
$4,569,734.80
Published
October 2024
Executive Summary
The Reboot Plus Expansion program, led by Douglas College and PEERs Employment & Education Resources, aims to re-engage youth aged 17–24 who are at risk of not finishing high school or are unsure of their academic and career trajectories. The program involves 16 weeks of classroom-based and off-site activities across multiple college sites. It is designed to support these youth in career development and pathway planning while increasing employer awareness of this demographic. This program’s expansion, funded by the Future Skills Centre in 2022, extends its reach to new provinces (Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador) to test its scalability and broaden its impact on vulnerable youth populations.
Key Insights
The program successfully engaged 186 at-risk youth, with 90% completing their capstone action plans and remaining engaged throughout the program.
Employers and professionals involved in the program reported increased awareness of at-risk youth as a valuable talent pool, with 87% expressing motivations to support employment pathways for youth.
Participants showed significant improvement in soft skills, with 91% indicating an intention to apply the skills learned to their future careers.
The Issue
Reboot Plus targets youth who are disengaged from the education system due to mental health challenges or family responsibilities. The expansion of the program to new provinces aims to test its scalability, addressing the challenge of supporting at-risk youth in diverse geographic areas, from urban to remote locations.
What We Investigated
The expansion of Reboot Plus was designed to explore the effectiveness of a holistic curriculum in improving career outcomes for at-risk youth. The program employs a flexible approach that incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion principles; experiential learning; and Hope-Centred Career Development, which helps participants identify their values, interests and skills to pursue future pathways with confidence through self-reflection, goal setting, adaptation. The program includes components such as personality tests, skills assessments, exposure to college environments and career exploration activities.
The interim evaluation report addresses the following research questions:
- Is the program reaching its target group?
- Do participants persist in the program and complete key components? Are participants satisfied with their experience in the program? What are the program’s strengths and areas for improvement?
- What early outcomes are youth achieving following participation in the program? Did employers and professionals become more aware of this youth population as a potential pool of job candidates?
- How did the program’s implementation vary across sites and over periods? How effective were participant and professional recruitment strategies?
What We’re Learning
The program reported high satisfaction rates among participants, with 86% finding it useful and 90% willing to recommend it to others.
The program effectively enhanced participants’ career awareness, confidence and soft skills.
Facilitators praised the curriculum’s flexibility and comprehensive nature, while stakeholders identified opportunities to include more education and career guidance and individualized professional development.
Challenges in recruitment and logistical support in remote areas were also noted, highlighting the need for better preparation and tailored strategies in future iterations.
Why It Matters
The findings suggest that programs like Reboot Plus can play a crucial role in supporting at-risk youth by providing holistic, flexible learning environments and direct professional engagement. The success of the program in diverse geographic areas underscores its potential as a scalable model for re-engagement programs.
Policymakers and practitioners should consider the importance of wraparound supports, flexible curricula and strong professional networks in designing interventions for vulnerable youth populations. Furthermore, the insights gained from this program can inform broader sectoral practices, particularly in how organizations engage and support at-risk youth in their educational and career journeys.
State of Skills:
Enhancing Career Prospects and Well-Being for Canadian Youth
Focus on early career guidance programs to introduce youth to a range of career paths, empowering them to make informed decisions with a strong emphasis on inclusivity and accessibility.
What’s Next
The program will continue to collect data and refine its approach, with upcoming reports incorporating data from winter and fall 2024. There are opportunities to further explore the scalability of the model, particularly in addressing logistical challenges in remote areas and enhancing participant engagement through tailored professional interactions. Future reports will also illuminate the perspectives of young people who do not complete the program and gather additional information about participation and engagement rates.
Have questions about our work? Do you need access to a report in English or French? Please contact communications@fsc-ccf.ca.
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How to Cite This Report
Blueprint. (2024). Interim Project Insights Report: Reboot Plus, Douglas College. Toronto: Future Skills Centre.
Reboot Plus Expansion is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.