A pledge to renew full staffing for the Mirrors Programme was borne out in the Budget debate, with the personal development scheme expected to be fully funded in 2025-26 to a total complement of six staff.

Ewart Brown, the former premier who made the youth social and emotional development scheme a priority under his administration from 2006 to 2010, told The Royal Gazette in the wake of the Budget statement reading: “This is good news — the work of Mirrors is never done.

“Our young people need all the help they can get to overcome the distractions in their lives.

“This is also what people expect from a Progressive Labour Party government.”

Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, told the House of Assembly during a debate for the ministry’s 2025-26 fiscal year that the life skills programme was in line for a 24 per cent boost to its finances — from $654,000 last year to $869,000.

Ms Furbert said: “Mirrors has begun to rebuild its team since it transitioned to the Department of Child and Family Services — a full complement of staff is expected this year.”

She added: “One additional post, a youth and community engagement officer, will be funded this year, and the recruitment manager post will now be fully funded this year for a total complement of six staff.”

The programme’s transition to the purview of the DCFS was announced in November 2022.

Ms Furbert told the House on Wednesday that Mirrors staff were “honoured and pleased to continue our development of prevention programming for Bermuda, which is grounded in neuroscience, accelerated learning counselling and leadership principles”.

She added: “Mirrors and its partners continue to develop the work in the social and emotional development and life-coaching areas for our community.”

Ms Furbert said that the programme had been assessed at its camp in February by accreditors from the Western Association of School Colleges.

The visitors spoke with campers, staff, volunteers, leadership campers and parents with a positive report for “reaccrediting our partner, Quantum Learning Global, which extends the accreditation to Mirrors producing WASC-accredited programming”, she said.

Cheyenne Correia-Foster, of Quantum Learning, the company that helps to administer the programme’s educational “supercamps”, was said to have created a new social and emotional development course for Mirrors.

Ms Furbert said 30 young people enrolled in the Mirrors October 2024 supercamp.

“We’re in their follow-through phase of the programme with a life coach, with expected completion in June of 2025,” she said.

“This year, the students were separated by gender to provide more specialised monthly support services and they continue to receive weekly life coaching.

“Mirrors is expected to enrol a leadership senior group, cohort 20, in the upcoming year of 25 14 to 16-year-olds and five junior team leaders to travel to Singapore for the supercamp senior forum leadership experience.

“The focus is to build peer leadership skills and harness the peer influence such that they have a positive impact in their schools when they return.

“Their follow-through phase will be focused on experiential leadership skills development.

“Thirty volunteers who have demonstrated leadership qualities to coach the students will enrol.

“This focus will allow for positive peer influence on the school climate, with the opportunity to accelerate positive community outcomes.”