LU School of Social Work Now Northwestern Ontario YouthREX Hub
Dr. David Tranter, Associate Professor in Lakehead’s School of Social Work, participated in the launch of YouthREX. Photo LU
THUNDER BAY, ON – Lakehead University’s Department of Social Work has become Northwestern Ontario’s hub for the Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange (YouthREX).
YouthREX is a provincially-funded program that allows each hub to engage with small and grassroot youth-serving organizations by providing a variety of supports and resources to help empower young people by involving them in the process.
“The purpose of YouthREX is to improve well-being outcomes for youth in Ontario,” said Dr. David Tranter, Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Lakehead University.
“In order to accomplish this, we are focusing on three areas: Knowledge Mobilization, capacity building and customized research and evaluation supports,” Dr. Tranter said.
As a part of Ontario’s Youth Action Plan, YouthREX is a province-wide initiative based at York University with five regional hubs across Ontario that promote the integration of research evidence and evaluation in the development and delivery of Ontario’s programs.
“YouthRex is a dynamic and evolving initiative that supports positive youth development included in Ontario’s evidence-based strategic framework,Stepping Up, which identifies seven themes of well-being,” said Sarah Baum, YouthREX Northwestern Regional Hub Manager
The YouthREX regional hubs will engage grassroots organizations that serve youth, academic partners, youth and policy stakeholders for capacity-building, knowledge mobilization, and research and evaluation opportunities.
YouthREX has received $3.75 million in funding from the Ontario Ministry of Child and Youth Services with extensive contributions from King’s University College, Western University, Lakehead University, Laurentian University and Carleton University.
The YouthREX hub at the School of Social Work is actively looking to partner with youth serving organizations.
