Tracks is a youth employment centre specifically for out of school and out of work youth, 16 to 24, located in the centre of Collingwood. The staff at Tracks work closely with youth to find appropriate employment in the Georgian Triangle area, and outreach visits and job transportation is provided to the surrounding smaller rural communities. Tracks, and its sister organization, the Future Cafe, are the first contacts for most youth at risk in the Collingwood area. Participants in the focus group were selected and referred by the Tracks staff, and all participants had been identified as having learning/ literacy issues. The focus group at Tracks was held on Thursday November 29, from 1 to 4 pm.

(B) PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS

Note: YH refers to Youth Haven, and T refers to Tracks

• Number of Participants:
  1. YH 6 of 8 youths at the shelter participated in the focus group
  2. T 9 of 10 registrants participated in the focus group
• Age and Gender:
  • YH 5 males, 1 female, aged 15 to 2, average age 18 years.
  • T 8 males, 1 female, aged 15 to 22, average age 18.8 years.
• Level of School Completed:
  • YH One youth was currently in school, one had just graduated from grade 12, and the other 4 had dropped out prior to OSSD graduation. The average completed grade level was grade 10 for those who had dropped out. During individual interviews, all four of those who had dropped out expressed awareness of learning (reading and writing and math) problems, and requested that I fill out the interview forms for them when given the option.
  • T No youths were currently in school. Two had completed grade 12, one had completed grade 11 and had some OSSD credits, and the other six had completed grade 8 with some grade 9 credits.
• Mental Health Issues:
  • YH Although mental health issues were not included in the original question list, five of the six youths spontaneously reported depression and concentration difficulties, and two were currently on medication to address those issues.
  • T No spontaneous reporting