EARLY INTERVENTION
PROGRAM
FOR SCHOOLS & COMMUNITY SETTINGS
12-Week Peer Group Engagement for Schools & Community Settings
Built by people who’ve lived it. Designed to change the trajectory.
This program is specifically designed for boys aged 13–18 who are disengaging from school or at risk of entering the justice system.
At 16 Yards, we work with high-potential young people who’ve been written off or overlooked.
This program is about reaching them early - before a school exit turns into long-term system contact. Before a pattern becomes a sentence.
We’re seeing record levels of school refusal, disengagement, and system contact — especially among boys carrying cultural pressure, trauma, or a sense of isolation. This program meets that moment with structure, safety and real connection.
Our 12-week peer group program helps young people reconnect with themselves, take ownership of their choices, and build a clearer sense of direction.
It’s not therapy. It’s not a lecture. It’s structured, strategic identity work with people they can relate to.
Who It's For?
This program is ideal for boys who:
It’s designed for schools and services looking for something real - something that works where other approaches haven’t.
We’ve delivered this model in:
The Program
The program runs for 12 weeks, with weekly 90-minute group sessions. It’s practical, peer-based, and always grounded in lived experience. Sessions are often tailored to the specific needs of each group.
Session themes include:
This work is raw, structured, and intentionally designed to shift internal narratives - helping young people see themselves differently and act accordingly.
What Makes Us Different
We don’t run this once and leave it alone. The program is in constant refinement and design, evolving with the shifting youth justice landscape, cultural dynamics, and feedback from the young men we walk alongside.
We stand apart because:
✓⃝ Lived-Experience Leadership: Our mentors bring real credibility -because they’ve lived it, changed, and now lead others through the same identity shift.
✓⃝ Evidence-Informed & Practical: Our model draws from self-determination theory, desistance research, and coaching science—translated into tools and language young people connect with.
✓⃝ Strengths-Based & Future-Focused: We start from where boys are strong, not what’s “wrong” and build from there.
✓⃝ Credibility & Connection: We meet them where they’re at. That’s what earns trust, and why we can go deep.
Lead Facilitators
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ZAYD
FACILITATOR
An African-Australian podcaster, presenter, mentor and emerging community leader with lived experience of the justice system. Zayd holds a Certificate IV in Community Services and is studying a Bachelor of Social Work. He brings clarity, care, and strong leadership to the young people he works with.
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AGUER
FACILITATOR
A South Sudanese-Australian with lived experience in the youth justice system. Aguer is driven by a strong sense of purpose and is committed to supporting participants navigating similar challenges. He’s studying a Certificate IV in Community Services, plays semi-professional soccer, and continues to invest in his own growth.
Guest Mentors
Our guest mentors are drawn from a diverse team of leaders with Aboriginal, Pasifika, African, and Anglo-Australian backgrounds - people who have walked their own identity transformation journeys and now lead from lived experience. We bring these mentors into specific sessions based on what each group needs, selecting people who reflect the cultural, social, or lived realities of the participants. It deepens trust, strengthens connection, and helps each cohort feel genuinely seen.
We also invite mentors who’ve built serious credibility in their own fields - professional athletes, barbers, lawyers, and business leaders who’ve carved out their paths through discipline, setbacks, and growth. Their presence shows young people what’s possible, and that there’s more than one way to build a solid future.
The Identity Transformation Model
All 16 Yards programs are grounded in an evidence-informed approach that supports young people to reshape how they see themselves, uncover strengths, and build a more sustainable sense of direction. It’s designed to foster real growth - not just compliance - through identity work, practical structure, and strong relationships.
