Project Summary

Key findings:

• The Drum Atweme early intervention program supports young people throughout their childhood and adolescence to increase their engagement in school, make positive connections, increase their self-esteem and avoid anti-social behaviour. These outcomes contribute to their development into healthy adults, which has positive flow-on effects to their families and schools, the justice system, and the community.
• If the current investment is maintained, $1.1 m is forecast to be invested into the program over the next five years. This includes cash investment from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ($797k) and cash and in-kind support from Drum Atweme ($193k). There is forecast to be approximately $4k per annum invested in each young person in the Drum Atweme performance group.
• Based on this level of investment, the social value associated with the outcomes of the program is forecast to be $7.3m over the next five years ($1.5m per annum). Almost half of this value ($675k per annum) is attributable to the reallocation of justice system resources that would ordinarily be used to address the young people's anti-social and offending behaviour.
• When the $7.3m in social value that is expected to be generated is compared to the anticipated $1.1m investment in the program, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) ratio equates to 7:1. This means for every $1 that is forecast to be invested in the program between FY15 to FY19, approximately $7 of social value is expected to be created.
• If the impact of the program on the justice system is isolated, the SROI ratio is 4:1, and if the impact of the program on young people is isolated, the SROI is 2:1. This indicates that if only the objective measures, or only the subjective measures of the program impact are taken into account, the social value created is forecast to be greater than the investment required to generate this value.

About the Drum Atweme program

The Drum Atweme program was established as a Tangentyere Council program in 2004, and has been funded by the Australian Government's Indigenous Justice Programme since 2007-08.

Many young Aboriginal people in Alice Springs are not consistently receiving the support they need to develop and live healthy lives, which leads to low levels of engagement in education and training, poor health outcomes, lack of self-worth, offending behaviour and ultimately, contact with the justice system.

"The kids involved in the justice system develop a cohort of young offenders, who challenge each other to compete to commit crimes. The Drum Atweme kids avoid this peer pressure. They have something to live for, to focus on, to work towards, to practice. They know where they have to be and how they should behave."

Coordinator, Youth in Communities, Professional Development & Mentoring Project NT

The program provides drumming classes in schools with primarily Aboriginal students in Alice Springs to develop social skills and increase engagement in school and education, and supports a performance group of young people from the Alice Springs Town Camps who perform for tourist groups, at community events and on tours interstate. Since 2004, 225 young people have been members of the performance group, and many more have been involved in drumming classes at schools.

The Drum Atweme Coordinator works closely with schools and families to ensure 'going drumming' is a reward for attendance and positive behaviour at school, and maintains a stable mentor relationship with the young people as they grow up to reduce their prospects of future contact with the justice system.

Impact of the Drum Atweme program

The Drum Atweme program has positive impacts on young people and their families, and the Alice Springs community (including schools, families, businesses and community members). As a result of the program, young people experience increased self-esteem; more engagement in meaningful activities (including school); more positive connections with others and; avoid anti-social behaviour. This report forecasts that these positive outcomes are likely to continue into the future.

The justice system is also a large beneficiary of the Drum Atweme program. At July 2014, only 3 of the 225 young people (0.02 per cent) who were members of the performance group between 2004 and 2014 are in prison. In contrast, on an average day in 2010-11, 23 per 1,000 (0.5 per cent) of Indigenous young people aged 10-17 under supervision on an average day in Australia.¹ In other words, less than half of the Drum Atweme performance group members are in prison than a comparable group in the population. This forecast report utilised the data collected by the Drum Atweme program on the justice outcomes to make predictions on the future outcomes for the justice system.

"I fell in love with drumming. It made me go to school every day...I'm more confident now. I used to always be looking down."

Performance group member

"Kids who do drumming are different from other kids. Other kids go to skate park or up the hill chucking rocks, rather than go to school. If they were not drumming the kids would be on the streets, looking through windows, being chased by the police up the hills."

Women elders

Value of the changes generated by the program

There is social value associated with the outcomes of the Drum Atweme program. Financial proxies have been used to approximate the value of these outcomes. The total value created by the program is the unique value that will be created by the Drum Atweme program for the stakeholders attributable to the projected investment during FY15 to FY19.

The anticipated investment of $1.1m in the program over FY15 to FY19 is forecast to generate approximately $7.3m of social value, resulting in a Social Return on Investment ratio of 7:1. This means that for every $1 invested in program, $7 of social and economic value is expected to be created for stakeholders, predominantly for young people and the justice system. If the anticipated funding from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (approx. $160k per annum) is considered independently of the in-kind support, the Social Return on Investment ratio is 9:1.

Due to the program preventing young people that are in the performance group from engaging in anti-social and criminal behaviour, it is estimated that it will be possible for the justice system to reallocate resources that would ordinarily be used to address these issues. Based on average policing, courts, juvenile justice and detention costs, this equates to almost $675k per annum², which is far greater than the amount that is expected to be invested in the program. The SROI ratio is 4:1 when only justice outcomes are included.

The following table is a summary of the value that is expected to be created for each stakeholder group.

As with any financial modelling, it is expected that any changes in the variables would result in changes to the SROI ratio. In eight scenarios tested, the SROI ratio remains at 3:1 or above, indicating that the social value that is forecast to be created is likely to be greater than the investment that is forecast to be made in the program. It will be important to collect data related to the most sensitive variables over time to ensure that estimates are robust and to ensure that the program is creating the expected level of social return on investment. In particular, more data needs to be collected about the outputs and outcomes of the program, the comparator population (e.g. the offending behaviour of young people in Alice Springs), and the value associated with the outcomes (e.g. the income generated by the Drum Atweme group for local businesses).

Insights from the analysis

The Drum Atweme model has a number of critical elements that support young people to develop into healthy adults, as well as creating outcomes for other stakeholders:

Drumming is used as the hook to engage young people

• Use of a positive incentive to encourage school attendance and good behaviour
• Use of drumming as a group activity that is accessible and of interest to young Aboriginal girls, with therapeutic and skill development benefits

Long-term relationships and engagement with culture are essential foundations for the program

• Continuity of relationship between the program Coordinator and young people and their families across generations, characterised by genuine friendship and humour and an in depth understanding of the challenges facing young people and their families
• Regular, ongoing collaboration between the program Coordinator, schools, families and service providers
• Intensive support available when young people need it
• Engagement with Aboriginal languages and culture to include young people and their families

Whole of community support enriches young people's experience in the program

• Widespread community recognition and support for the program, including from businesses, local government and community groups
• Performance trips that expose young people to new experiences and people

The social enterprise model enhances the program's impact

• Funds generated from performances are used to support the essential needs of young people and encourage money management skills

Recommendations

Based on the findings of the analysis we recommend that Drum Atweme:

Funding the program

1. Secure funding for the full costs of the program for more than one year in recognition of the time taken to generate changes for the young people involved
2. Seek funding from the Northern Territory Government in recognition of the significant justice system cost savings forecast to be generated by the program
3. Resource the program with more than one person to ensure program sustainability and increase impact

Scaling the program

4. Engage business mentoring support to enhance the social enterprise element of the program
5. Investigate the feasibility of expanding the model to other areas

Demonstrating the value of the program

6. Share knowledge of the program with other organisations focused on youth justice early intervention approaches
7. Collect data on the activity delivered (outputs) and the changes experienced by stakeholders as a result of this activity (outcomes) on an on-going basis to improve the rigour of future analyses.

About this project

The Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) commissioned Social Ventures Australia (SVA) Consulting to understand, measure and value the changes generated through three programs funded through the IJP. The Drum Atweme program was one of the funded programs analysed.

The Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology was used to complete this analysis. SROI is a framework for understanding, measuring and accounting for social, economic and environmental value. It places a monetary value on the impact (the benefit) of an activity, and compares this with the cost incurred in creating that benefit. SROI is stakeholder informed, which increases the depth of analysis required as it engages more broadly with those who experience change, than traditional cost-benefit analysis.

The SROI analysis looked at the investment that is forecast to be made and the outcomes that is forecast to be achieved for five years, from July 2014 to June 2019. Limited historical data was available to forecast the impact of the program in the forthcoming period. Professional judgements have been made based on stakeholder consultations and other data collected over time by the Drum Atweme program to represent the extent of change experienced by stakeholders and the value of these changes. Recommendations have been made to improve the rigour of future analyses.

Indigenous Justice Programme

The IJP is a competitive grants program administered by the Department that funds activities that seek to improve community safety by reducing the high rates of offending and incarceration of Indigenous Australians. Its objectives are to support safer communities by reducing Indigenous offending, and through that, reduce Indigenous victimisation and incarceration. The IJP seeks to achieve this objective through a national focus that complements State and Territory initiatives.