Without A Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey

Colonialism, intergenerational trauma, poverty, violence (against Indigenous women and
girls, in particular), poor access to education, overrepresentation in child protection and
prison populations, as well as ongoing racism and discrimination, undermine the health
and well-being of Indigenous youth. Importantly, all of these factors cumulatively enhance
the risk of homelessness for Indigenous youth. Between 2006 and 2011, the Indigenous
population increased by over 20% (compared with 5.2% for the non-Indigenous
population) (ESDC, 2014). This also means that the Indigenous population is very youthful;
eventually these children and youth will require their own housing. We need to take action
now to ensure that these Indigenous children and youth do not face the severe challenges
to housing that their parents do.
Moving forward, it is imperative that there be focused efforts to meet the needs of
Indigenous youth and their families, and that strategies be Indigenous-led.
5.2 The Need to Shift from a Crisis Response
to Prevention
This report clearly demonstrates that with respect to youth homelessness, we are
waiting much too long to intervene. In many jurisdictions, services for young people
who experience homelessness are not available until they are 16 or even 18. The evidence
presented here suggests that by that time a lot of damage has already occurred.
First experience of homelessness
A big concern raised by our data is that for
many young people, their first experience
of homelessness occurs well before they
are even entitled to access interventions
and supports (outside of child protection).
Among study participants, the average
age that youth first left home was 15.7.
Strikingly, 40.1% of the total sample
reported that they were under the age of 16
when they first experienced homelessness.
Our study also found that transgender
15.7
average age participants
first left home
40.1%
were younger than
16 when they first
experienced homelessness
WITHOUT A HOME: THE NATIONAL YOUTH HOMELESSNESS SURVEY
93