COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

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Youth explained that access to some homelessness programs or benefits are often predicated on a very narrow definition of homelessness (e.g., sleeping rough). This meant that many young people were blocked from accessing supports if they were living in a house of some kind, even if that housing was precarious, unsafe, inadequate, or unaffordable. Youth consistently discussed instances where they were not considered “in need enough” to qualify for help from homelessness services or programs until they ended up on the street. Accessibility & Availability Issues The vast majority of youth across Canada explained that prior to becoming homeless, they were unaware what homelessness services existed or how to access them. This made it difficult to get the help they needed to prior to becoming homeless, and resulted inpanicked efforts to find help once they were on the streets. Many youth reported being homeless for weeks or months before learning of services, and several explained that they ate out of garbage cans because didn’t know about services that offered meals. This was particularly the case for young people from rural or remote communities, who were forced to leave due to violence, discrimination, or lack of services, and had to navigate a new city alone with no funds. “When I first asked for help and stuff like that, they kind of told me since I’m 15 I can’t do anything … you have to be 16 to be able to have a room at [agency] and everything like that …I find that ridiculous—like, it’s for youth! And I talked to social services too, but they were like, ‘It’s really hard to get you into the system because you’re 15,’ and I was like, ‘Then, why am I even here? I’d just rather be homeless.’” YELLOWKNIFE YOUTH In terms of service availability, youth from suburban, rural, and wealthy areas reported a dearth of local services. Youth also discussed long waitlists to receive help in the youth homelessness sector, and described the fear-inducing experience of being told that a shelter is full. Young people described the challenges, violence, and physical danger they faced when services were unavailable or closed early. WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 88
“Requirements to access help sometimes are so high that some youth can’t access them. Like for myself, I was coming straight out, in early recovery, right out of harsh addiction, and I had to—if I didn’t want to be homeless, I had to be going to post-secondary in order to receive funding.” YELLOWKNIFE YOUTH
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WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? Youth Across Ca
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This research was made possible thr
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Are we making sig
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YOUTH’S PERSPECTIVES ON PREVENTIO
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Youth’s Proposed Solutions • In
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• Lack of education for youth on
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“My trauma led me down a wrong pa
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5. Align ministerial, departmental,
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INTEGRATED GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS 1. W
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INTRODUCTION Youth homelessness in
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Systems change is difficult work. T
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Finally, youth homelessness prevent
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CONSULTATION PROCESS National consu
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Prior to beginning the study, resea
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62 % Self-identified as currently e
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WHAT IS YOUTH HOMELESSNESS PREVENTI
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YOUTH’S PERSPECTIVES ON PREVENTIO
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WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 1. STRUCTURAL P
Page 37 and 38: “I think that affordable housing
Page 39 and 40: LOW SOCIAL ASSISTANCE RATES Many yo
Page 41 and 42: LOW WAGES & TIGHT JOB MARKETS In th
Page 43 and 44: MOVING FORWARD To ensure better out
Page 45 and 46: 1.2 LACK OF HOUSING While youth vie
Page 47 and 48: Public Housing Challenges The lack
Page 49 and 50: MOVING FORWARD The solutions propos
Page 51 and 52: “Well, for me, like, because of r
Page 53 and 54: MOVING FORWARD Indigenous youth vie
Page 55 and 56: “I have friends that are in foste
Page 57 and 58: MOVING FORWARD While youth describe
Page 59 and 60: 1.5 HARMFUL SOCIETAL BELIEFS & VALU
Page 61 and 62: “A lot of systems are still set u
Page 63 and 64: ADDRESSING ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERI
Page 65 and 66: WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 2. SYSTEMS PREV
Page 67 and 68: 2.1 EDUCATION For young people who
Page 69 and 70: 2. Professional Training For the mo
Page 71 and 72: Investments • Provide significant
Page 73 and 74: “Educating teachers, principals,
Page 75 and 76: Experiences in Foster Care Many you
Page 77 and 78: Difficult Transitions from Care Tra
Page 79 and 80: “My parents were good enough at l
Page 81 and 82: 2.3 HEALTHCARE & ADDICTIONS For you
Page 83 and 84: An additional issue raised by many
Page 85 and 86: MOVING FORWARD Without a Home: The
Page 87: 2.4 YOUTH HOMELESSNESS SECTOR In fo
Page 91 and 92: “Yeah, when I first moved in [to
Page 93 and 94: PREVENTING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS IN TH
Page 95 and 96: While the recommendations below can
Page 97 and 98: 2.5 CRIMINAL JUSTICE A common conce
Page 99 and 100: PREVENTING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS IN TH
Page 101 and 102: MOVING FORWARD Canadian research sh
Page 103 and 104: WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 3. PREVENTING I
Page 105 and 106: ADDRESSING FAMILY CONFLICT, ABUSE,
Page 107 and 108: “This is real. We did not choose
Page 109 and 110: Lack of services and supports also
Page 111 and 112: MOVING FORWARD Youth across the cou
Page 113 and 114: ADDRESSING SOCIAL EXCLUSION & ISOLA
Page 115 and 116: “I’m just trying to say that, i
Page 117 and 118: ADDRESSING VIOLENCE IN THE COMMUNIT
Page 119 and 120: YOUTH’S MESSAGES TO ALL LEVELS OF
Page 121 and 122: We need to dramatically shift our a
Page 123 and 124: RECOMMENDATIONS 1 GOVERNMENT OF CAN
Page 125 and 126: 5. Align ministerial, departmental,
Page 127 and 128: 2. Embed youth homelessness prevent
Page 129 and 130: INTEGRATED GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS 1. W
Page 131 and 132: 3. Require that all school boards a
Page 133 and 134: 5. Offer comprehensive, youth-focus
Page 135 and 136: 8. Systematically investigate and e
Page 137 and 138: Provincial/Territorial Ministries R
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6. Seek to provide highly integrate
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3. Foster meaningful youth engageme
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Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Kidd, S.,
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Statistics Canada. (2011). National
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