COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

8. Provide additional investments to support Indigenous-led reforms of child protection, as
outlined in the Calls to Actions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and Child
Welfare and Youth Homelessness: A Proposal for Action.
9. Revise the Youth Criminal Justice Act’s Judicial Measures and Sentencing to ensure a focus
on the decriminalization of youth experiencing homelessness, and that courts follow the
directive that judges must consider the youth’s ability to pay before a fine is levied.
10. Adopt a national research strategy focused on youth homelessness in order to advance an
integrated systems response to preventing youth homelessness, as outlined in Opportunity
Knocks: Prioritizing Canada’s Most Vulnerable Youth.
11. Implement cross-ministerial engagement and investment to support a youth homelessness
strategy, with co-funded programs supported by Employment and Social Development Canada,
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, the Department of Justice, Health Canada, Status of
Women Canada, and other relevant ministries and departments.
PROVINCES/TERRITORIES
1.Implement a Provincial/Territorial Strategy to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness,
supported by a targeted investment.
This Strategy should:
a) Ensure provincial/territorial strategies explicitly reference the human rights of youth
experiencing homelessness.
b) Adopt a provincial/territorial goal of ending youth homelessness with clear and
measurable outcomes, milestones, and criteria.
c) Implement an independent review process to assess progress towards ending youth
homelessness within the province/territory.
d) Work with communities to develop plans to prevent and end youth homelessness, with a
particular emphasis on intervening well before a young person experiences homelessness,
and exiting youth from homelessness as rapidly as possible.
e) Work with communities to implement policies and practices that proactively address the
unique needs of particular populations deemed to be at greater risk of homelessness, including
Indigenous youth, racialized youth, newcomer youth, and youth who identify as LGBTQ2S+.
f) Implement a focused prevention strategy to support young people who are under 16 and
at risk of homelessness, supported by targeted investments.
g) Work with Indigenous communities to develop and implement a focused homelessness
prevention strategy for Indigenous youth and their families, supported by targeted investments.
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 126