A youth empowerment programme is being transitioned into the Department of Child and Family Services, it was announced on Friday.

Tinee Furbert, the Minister of Social Development and Seniors, told the House of Assembly that The Mirrors Programme will now be “formally aligned” with DCFS.

She said the transition will provide “a valuable opportunity to further strengthen administrative resources, clearer workflow processes and procedures, good governance, and new community programmes to be designed and offered”.

She said that Mirrors will be collaborating with parent teacher associations over the next six months to expand “the 8 Keys of Excellence“ middle school programming to parents and primary school students through school assemblies.

The 8 Keys programme has served more than 500 children this year and its expansion is designed to provide parents with the same foundation in order to “deepen the keys in families”.

Ms Furbert said: “The 8 Keys of Excellence are research-based principles that guide human behaviour. They were developed by studying people who had achieved great success while maintaining personal excellence.

“Mirrors uses the 8 Keys in middle school programming and more recently with the 19 senior school students that completed the three-day residential intensive which allowed them to connect with one another, to reflect and take responsibility for their own personal development.“

She said that the theme for this year’s cohort of Mirrors participants is Bermuda Be Great, adding: “Mirrors has intentionally built a ‘great’ community of support at camp with volunteers and life coaches.

“These life coaches will support the students over the next eight months to achieve their personal transformational goals.”

She also thanked parents who took part in a Parenting Expo sponsored by the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Child and Family Services.

“Those parents who attended the parent workshop, had the opportunity to explore the foundation’s work for themselves, and learnt new ways to enhance their relationship with their sons and daughters, and how to commit to being a ‘great’ parent,” she said.

She also thanked the many volunteers for their commitment to young people.