COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

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More broadly, youth also felt some homelessness agencies lacked a sense of urgency in their response to youth homelessness, and that staff were sometimes slow to respond. Fortunately, many youth also described the profoundly impactful support they received from social service providers, in some cases crediting those providers with their lives. Youth especially appreciated when agencies emphasized: low-barriers, acceptance, a sense of belonging and community, safety from stigmatization and violence, space to heal and grow, flexibility, respect, no time limits or timelines for accessing service, personal expression, and ensuring youth have control over their own lives. “When I was on the streets there was a very laisse faire attitude when you’re a new youth that was homeless. And it’s very easy to just be put into the system and forgotten, and I think it should be encouraged that the ground-level staff create a community vibe of, ‘You’re here, but you need to get out of here.’ … Like when I first became homeless, I thought someone was going to pull me aside and be like, ‘What are you doing here?’ No one did. It can be forgotten the second we accept the homeless lifestyle and the culture as the norm. You always have to have that frantic, sort of like, ‘Let’s get you the hell out of here when you first come.’” EDMONTON YOUTH WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 92
PREVENTING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS IN THE YOUTH HOMELESSNESS SECTOR: Youth’s Proposed Solutions Policy & System Change • Develop regional and community-based plans on the prevention of youth homelessness • Increase the length of time that youth can remain in emergency and transitional housing, ensuring that youth are not kicked out without access to stable housing • Increase and improve coordination and communication between services and supports for youth experiencing homelessness • Centralize supports and services in the same location, employing a ‘hub’ model • Reduce age requirements for accessing services and allow youth under 16 to access services without parental permission • Enable older youth to access youth services (aged 25-29) • Reduce acuity criteria for accessing homelessness services • Do not require youth to engage in programming, employment, or education in order to access services • Low or no-barrier access to services • Advertise and promote available services in all neighbourhoods, including through pamphlets and posters in schools, community centres, alleys, malls, and in any spaces where youth at risk are likely to spend time • Ensure the availability of 24/7/365 supports and services for youth in all communities • Prohibit services from banning youth based on their identity or challenges they face (e.g., mental health challenges) • Offer free or reduced transit fares for youth in need • Hire more frontline staff with lived experiences of homelessness • Hire more Indigenous staff Investments • Provide increased and consistent funding to agencies to provide crisis interventions, early intervention, and housing stabilization • Create and fund safe, youth-friendly housing options that youth can access in their home WHAT communities WOULD IT TAKE? when they first become homeless 93
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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
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“I think that affordable housing
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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 and 88: 2.4 YOUTH HOMELESSNESS SECTOR In fo
Page 89 and 90: “Requirements to access help some
Page 91: “Yeah, when I first moved in [to
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
Page 139 and 140: 6. Seek to provide highly integrate
Page 141 and 142: 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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