Victoria could drastically reduce its youth homeless crisis, if the state government commits to a new plan set out by the Council for Homeless Persons.
Youth homelessness is rife in Victoria, in the last year 8,830 young people presented to homelessness services needing medium or long-term accommodation, but only 40 per cent were referred to accommodation.
Council for Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said the youth homelessness problem is solvable with political will.
“We cannot accept a situation in which nine thousand young people experiencing homelessness are asking for help each year and most of them are being turned away,” Ms Smith said.
“We also know this figure vastly understates the size of the real problem, and homelessness services are overwhelmed with calls. Without the staff to respond, many have been forced to just turn off their voicemails. Those who don’t succeed in making contact with a worker aren’t recorded in the statistics.
“There are few areas of spending more worthy than helping young homeless people get roofs over their heads. Aside from it being the right thing to do, we know early intervention pays dividends in avoiding entrenched disadvantage and all the related costs.
“Youth housing is often the difference between thriving or reinforcing trauma experienced during childhood. By providing young people with consistent, robust support and secure, stable accommodation we can give them a solid base to start their adult lives.
“Young people experiencing homelessness need homes to stay connected to education or work, look after their health, and form community connections.
“This budget briefing paper shows the problem is fixable, it just requires the state government to commit the money over the forward estimates.”
Suze Metherell 0412 867 084
