Middle Years F&ST is a collaborative early intervention and prevention program for pre-adolescents ages 9-12 years old, who are vulnerable to school failure, substance abuse and/or juvenile delinquency. Its ultimate purpose is to increase the likelihood of pre-adolescent success in the home, in the school and in the community with particular attention to helping meet the needs of pre-adolescents in grades 5 and/or 6 as they make the transition to junior high school and their teenage years.

Middle Years F&ST develops relationships within which both the pre-adolescent and his/her parent(s) have a respected voice and a valued role in the collaborative process. In addition, the program develops separate support networks for the pre-adolescents and for the parents, using a multi-family, whole-family format. Middle Years F&ST brings parents and pre-adolescents together for structured and supported communicative encounters in order to reduce social isolation, increase interpersonal bonds and improve social responsibility.

Middle Years F&ST is structured like Early Childhood F&ST and Elementary F&ST, however with variations that support the needs of pre-adolescents in this age group. The programme brings 10-15 families together for 12 weekly sessions of carefully planned social activities. These activities include: designing a family flag, research-based and developmentally appropriate activities, One-to-one Time, parent networking and a youth group known as F&ST Club.

In an effort to increase pre-adolescent success in the home, in the school and in the community, and to ease the transition to teenage years, Middle Years F&ST promotes and builds these six protective factors at various levels by enhancing positive, respectful and supportive relationships:

• An active school-based peer group for the youth.
• Positive social relationships of pre-adolescents with adults in their school environment and in the community.
• Bonding and communication between the pre-adolescent and the primary caretaking parent.
• Parental confidence and competence in monitoring and in influencing their pre-adolescent’s behaviour.
• Cohesion in the pre-adolescent’s family unit.
• Informal and formal support networks and linkages for parents and pre-adolescents.

The collaborative team consists of six core partner roles (eight individuals). It is critical that the collaborative team be culturally representative of the families being served.

The selected pre-adolescents form a separate peer group, known as F&ST Club, that begins to meet two weeks prior to the beginning of the 12 week multi-family sessions and then continues to meet throughout these sessions, while following a pre-determined agenda. The structured curriculum is designed to foster decision-making, problem solving and conflict resolution skills.

When pre-teens and families graduate from the 12 weekly Middle Years F&ST multi-family sessions, they join F&STWORKS, an ongoing, collective of inter-dependent families who meet once a month over the course of the following two years.