Youth homelessness report welcomed by NRSDC
April 8, 2008
The Northern Rivers Social Development Council today welcomed the release of a report calling for urgent action to address youth homelessness.
The report, Australia’s Homeless Youth, by the National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness, paints a grim picture of youth homeless across Australia.
The Commission found that despite 15 years of economic growth there are 22,000 homeless teenagers without a safe place to call home each night.
According to NRSDC president Jenny Dowell, youth homelessness is a critical issue for the Northern Rivers.
“One in 70 young people are homeless, and we estimate that there are at least 500 homeless young people aged 12 to 25 across the region,” Ms Dowell said.
“At the same time, funding for youth services has been frozen for over a decade. This means that services cannot cope with increasing demand in a fast growing region.
“We need funding for youth homeless services, better planning and funding growth to expand other vital supports for young people. These include specialist mental health anti-violence and substance abuse services as well as more options to keep vulnerable young people connected to education.”
The report contains a raft of recommendations, including a threefold increase in funding for the Reconnect program that provides early intervention, case management and support for young homeless people.
According to the report, programs such as Reconnect have been effective in bringing teen homelessness down from a peak of 26,000 in 2001.
According to Brett Paradise, Manager of Northern Rivers Reconnect, the number of young people without safe accommodation has increased alarmingly over the past 18 months.
“Young people are have been badly affected by the housing affordability crisis that is gripping our region,” Mr Paradise said.
“We are very worried that homelessness rates will start to rise again.
“The reasons young people leave home are complex and varied but overwhelmingly the main reasons are family conflict, violence and drug and alcohol use.
“Youth services across the region are struggling to find safe options for young people who desperately need somewhere to live.
“There is a critical shortage of crisis accommodation in the area.”
Other recommendations include commitment of $100 million over three years to develop more emergency refuges, new forms of housing for independent young people and development of a national action plan to eliminate youth homelessness by 2030.
“Tomorrow is national youth homelessness day and this report is very timely. It provides a practical way to fix this very real crisis for young people,” Mr Paradise said.
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