COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

MOVING FORWARD
In youth’s discussions of violence, both in their homes and in their communities, it was clear
that youth often felt they lacked access to support, and that available services often didn’t
allow them choice, agency, or control over how to respond to the violence. The frequency with
which youth across the country shared this experience underscores the need for interventions
that are youth-focused and position youth as experts in their own lives. Importantly, youth
also emphasized the importance of acting early to provide youth with options for services and
housing, and ensuring supports are in place for youth who need to leave their homes quickly to
escape violence. Youth requested that many institutions have the knowledge and infrastructure
to provide accessible pathways to these services and housing, including schools, libraries, faith
institutions, cultural centres, community centres, all in addition to social services available
through the child welfare or youth homelessness sector.
These services must be culturally safe and appropriate, and be
provided by highly skilled professionals with trauma-informed
approach to care.
Youth also emphasized that their challenges are often
“I think one of the key
things for preventing
youth homelessness
is educating parents
what would actually
happen. And maybe
educate them [by]
saying, ‘Hey, maybe
if you want your kid
to do a certain thing,
maybe making them
homeless is probably
not going to do exactly
what you want.’”
inextricably linked to the challenges their caregivers face.
This means that preventing youth homelessness must involve
interventions that support both families and caregivers
themselves, including through education, counseling, and
mediation. A key finding of Without a Home: The National Youth
Homelessness Survey was that among Canadian youth who
are homeless, 77.3% would like to improve relationships with
their families. This means that family mediation and counseling
are important both before and after a young person becomes
homeless. These interventions must occur in tandem with
providing families with the necessities that all people need
to build healthy relationships: livable income, adequate and
affordable housing, and access to healthy foods.
CALGARY YOUTH
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 106