Dylan is walking around a dairy farm in northern Victoria with his mentor, Jack Evans.
The 15-year-old is looking for his favourite dairy cow, Nessie, when he proudly reveals that he is six weeks sober.
Dylan recalls that when he dropped out of school a few years ago, he felt hopeless and started hanging out with “the wrong crowd”.
“I was addicted to weed, and I had no hope,” he said.
“Six months ago, I would have wanted a job to pay for weed. Now I want to support my girlfriend and family.”
For Dylan, one constant has been his mentor, Jack Evans, who shows up for him every week no matter what. (ABC News: Shannon Schubert)
Now he’s doing much better and working two part-time jobs.
According to Dylan and his mother Kelly, this is due to a program called Boys to the Bush (BTTB).
“He’s on a completely different path to what he was on before,” Kelly said.
“They’ve made a huge change in him.”
The usually reserved Will came out of his shell in the shearing shed. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
Connection is a game-changer
Boys to the Bush aims to engage at-risk and vulnerable boys and youths by connecting them with their communities and male mentors who can teach them life skills to set them up for adulthood.
The not-for-profit charity runs programs in 10 locations across New South Wales and Victoria, with plans to expand to 32 locations over the next five years.
It offers a range of programs including camps, school groups, community engagement days and one-to-one mentoring.
Sometimes participants do schoolwork at the shed; on other days they go fishing, bike riding or do volunteer work at local businesses.
Since 2017, BTTB says it has impacted the lives of more than 10,000 males aged between eight and 18.
On the border of Victoria and New South Wales, the Echuca program has been running for 18 months.
BTTB Echuca manager Andrew “Dicky” Thomson says the program has proved a success, with 92 per cent of mentoring participants reporting that they feel more connected to their local community.
“It costs the New South Wales government more than $700,000 each year to incarcerate one child. We can provide one-on-one mentoring to a child for $35,000,” he said.
Many of the teenagers, including Kade, struggle in mainstream school environments. (Supplied: Boys to the Bush)
Mr Thomson says when a BTTB program opens in a new location, it helps about 196 boys in the first year.
By the fourth year, it aims to have have assisted more than 3,000 boys and teenagers — which in turn, benefits their communities.
‘I’m less sad and more happy’
Greeted with the buzz of shavers and the sound of sheep’s hooves on wooden boards, there is hesitation and nervousness as the group of boys enter a hot, smelly shearing shed.
It’s fair to say the six teenagers are outside their comfort zone.
But with encouragement from their mentors and the shearers, they get involved.
Some keep their distance by sweeping up wool but others, like the usually reserved Willy, jump right in and grab the sheep.
Willy enjoyed learning about sheep shearing. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
One of the boys is Kade Trifilio-Pevitt, an enthusiastic 17-year-old from Echuca who has autism.
He says the thing he likes most about the BTTB program is the chance to do something physical and engage with the community.
“We’re not stuck at home. It’s a pretty good break for us, when we get to go out and [have an] experience in the community,” he said.
Kade Trifilio-Pevitt says he enjoys being outside, or in the community, with Boys to the Bush. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
Kade says he struggled in a mainstream school environment.
“It was so hard. It just got so overwhelming. I burst out of class,” he said.
Kade says the program has turned his life around. (Supplied: Boys to the Bush)
Now he goes to BTTB, a VET provider that offers extra support and supported employment every week.
“It’s turned my life around … I’m less sad and more happy,” he said.
From prison to part-time employment
Mr Thomson recounts another success story — that of a 16-year-old who had spent two years in a youth justice facility but is now going back to school and engaging with his community after participating in the program.
“We discovered out fishing how much he enjoys playing with small engines. So, we take him out to a local business on a Monday and he tinkers with engines and puts things together,” Mr Thomson said.
“The owner can’t believe how good he is at it.”
Andrew Thomson says for some of the boys in the program, it’s the first time they’ve had a positive male figure in their lives. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton )
Mr Thomson says the boys come from a range of backgrounds, and have diverse goals.
“It’s all about providing male mentors for boys who don’t typically have them in their lives,” he said.
“We try and fill a gap and be a mentor in their lives.”
They focus on working out what the boys enjoy, promoting community engagement and helping them set goals and work towards them.
Youth engagement workers say at-risk boys need time and connection, more than punishment. (ABC News: Shannon Schubert)
“[Their goals] could be simply showing up, getting them back to school, it could be building socialisation skills,” he said.
“It could be how to hold a knife and fork, how to brush your teeth.”
The solution to rising youth crime?
In Victoria, the number of 10-17 year olds allegedly involved in crime has increased by 14 per cent over the past year, according to Crime Statistics Agency data.
Nationally, however, the number of children in the same age group who are involved in crime has increased by just 6 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest crime data.
Mr Thomson says there’s a desperate need for more early intervention programs like Boys to the Bush, which could lead to fewer boys ending up in the justice system.
“I think there are a lot of boys in our communities that are disconnected,” he said.
“I think the secret is the community getting behind them. These boys just need people to believe in them.
“These boys really want our time, connection and structure. Typically, the boys coming into our program don’t have that.”
‘More effective than jail’
Anglicare Victoria, which runs several youth programs, says there is a desperate need for increased government funding to run early intervention programs.
“Let’s invest early, rather than wait until problems have gotten serious,” regional director Michael Oerlemans said.
State governments have recently embraced harsher punitive responses to youth crime, like lowering the age of criminal responsibility.
Mr Oerlemans says more government funding is needed for early intervention programs. (Supplied: Anglicare Victoria)
But Mr Oerlemans says early intervention programs are the most effective way to re-engage at-risk young people.
“A punitive response is never going to have the impact we want, because it’s dealing with the problem after the problem has occurred,” he said.
“If we can divert young people from custody and work with them, we’ll get a better response and a better ultimate outcome for the community.”
Trust key to making progress
Dylan’s mother and mentors are proud of how he’s turned his life around.
“He’s now happy to try new things and meet new people, which he never would have done three or four months ago,” Boys to the Bush mentor Jack Evans said.
Dylan’s mum says the program has had a hugely positive impact on her son. (ABC News: Shannon Schubert)
“It took a while, but over time we gained his trust. He’s starting to trust people again.”
When asked what he likes about the program, Dylan says he likes being outside, doing physical activities and being around animals.
“It’s easier to learn life skills than [it is] something from a book,” he said.
But having a male mentor who is always there for him and hasn’t stopped showing up has been vital.
“[I like] having a male figure in my life, because my dad left when I was three.”
