MANY SUCCESSES AT HURON HOSUE BOYS' HOME

 

 The Alumni Survey was developed in an effort to answer several questions. 

Ø   Can we substantiate our claim that the Boys’ Home had an 85% success rate?

Ø   Where do people live and what type of career are they in?

Ø   Have they volunteered (and what type of volunteer work) have they been engaged in since leaving the Boys’ Home?

Ø   Do they have important relationships in their lives?

Ø   Is there a difference between then and now as to the reasons why boys today are receiving service from us?

Ø   What aspects of our program did they learn the most and least from?

Ø   What should we have done differently to help them prepare for life beyond the Boys’ Home?

 

The most difficult question to answer was to determine our success rate.  What is the definition of success?  Is there a period of time needed after leaving the Boys’ Home before they considered themselves as being successful in their achievements?  Is there a connection we can make between a person’s overall health now and having received service from the Boys’ Home?  And finally, can we substantiate our claim that the Huron House Boys’ Home had an 85 percent success rate?

 

In order to help answer these questions we made a few assumptions.  Success and the degree of success one saw in his life is purely subjective and cannot be answered by asking one or two questions.  Success must be defined and understood as a culmination of several factors all building on each other to give the person a “sense or belief ” that they are successful in their own right.  For us to determine an individual’s position in life as being successful is not our decision to make.  However, in order to place some parameters around the definition of success, we made the following basic assumptions.  There should be no involvement with the criminal justice system or the mental health system over an extended period of time.  There should be some degree of having important relationships in their lives.  The reasons for living at the Huron House Boys' Home have now improved.  There should be limited access to receiving social assistance and finally, given all other factors, the individual should consider themselves as having some degree of happiness and therefore success in their lives.  

 

As for the question of whether the Huron House Boys' Home is responsible, at least in part, for each person’s current situation, we do not believe we can make a direct correlation between the person’s degree of success and that of receiving service from the Boys’ Home.  We can begin to answer this question however based on the answers and comments made by many of the respondents to the survey. 

 

1.                  84 percent graduated from college, university or an apprenticeship program

 

2.                  82 percent are either working or attending school

 

3.                  57 percent have volunteered or continue to volunteer in their home community

 

4.                  92 percent state their experience at Huron House Boys' Home was positive.  Eight percent said it was only fair.

 

5.                  95 percent state that the problems they had as a youth have either improved or no longer exist

            5 percent state their problems are ongoing

            No one stated their problems have gotten worse.

 

6.                  100 percent of respondents stated they had significant relationships with people in their lives.

            71 percent were married/partner

            59 percent had children, and

            59 percent have a strong relationship with their parents or siblings

 

7.                  The reasons for admission to the Huron House Boys' Home appear to be very similar to the reasons boys are admitted today.  The one exception to this is that almost all boys today have one or more significant mental health problems that have been diagnosed in addition to the behavioural, academic, aggressive or legal problems.  Whereas mental health problems were not identified in any respondent’s survey as a reason for admission to the Boys’ Home.  This discrepancy can possibly be explained in two ways.  First, a diagnosis of mental illness could be more prevalent today and more common practice by professionals to explain a particular reason for acting out.  Second, the admission criteria to receive service at the Boys’ Home in the past may not have included mental illness or if it did, to the severity of illnesses now being experienced by most youth.

 

Although the questions asked in this survey may not provide all the answers or help us evaluate our program to the degree we need to, we can begin to answer some basic questions.  We cannot make a direct correlation between living at the Boys’ Home and the person’s success today, but we can state with some assurance that from their responses, the Huron House Boys' Home played a significant role in helping young boys become responsible men, husbands and fathers in our community.

    

Help us to continue this great track record in the next 40 years of the Huron House Boys' Home.  Consider donating.

Strengthening our Community by Supporting our Youth Today.