Mr. Paul Perth:

Not only is there a disconnect, it is dog eat dog for funders. If we want to set up a pilot project, there is a huge amount of work to be done to enter an area because doing so threatens somebody else's funding. There is a politics to it that is unreal. We have talked about this a lot over the past 11 months. There is politics involved in trying to manoeuvre one's way into an area without stepping on anyone's toes. This is in a community where we are all working together under the banner of helping, supporting and empowering young people. People have to watch their p's and q's. We have to think about whether a young person is already being worked with by someone else and whether we should talk to that young person. I am being serious here. It is nearly a question of who owns these young people. These are real conversations we must have. There is one young girl I spoke to previously to whom I can no longer speak. I have to avoid her because of the repercussions of doing a small intervention with her. I am not talking about anything therapeutic but just something really simple. It is dog eat dog in terms of the different funding strands.