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Young People
This page covers issues relating to young people and homelessness. Usually, this means people aged 16-25.
What's New?
- On 18 November 2008 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report Housing Choices and Issues for Young People in the UK. The reports finds that there is a lack of appropriate and affordable housing options for young people in all housing tenures. View the report here.
- Findings from Our Survey of Needs and Provision related to young people , including the proportion of homelessness provision specifically for young people.
- National youth homelessness website goes live - CLG has launched a new compendium with advice and guidance on all aspects of tackling and preventing youth homelessness. To add content email Johanna Holmes at Centrepoint or Jo Gunner at YMCA England
- Yvette Cooper announced (7 March 2007) a new package of measures to tackle and prevent youth homelessness. The package includes a working partnership between YMCA England and Centrepoint to deliver a national youth homelessness scheme.
- SupportActionNet is running an "Action Seminar" on Working with families to prevent homelessness amongst young people.
- Centrepoint and London Metropolitan University's Cities Institute have launched a research report What is Homelessness? looking at young people and homelessness.
- A resident of Centrepoint's Camberwell Foyer, has gained a place at the University of Surrey.
The Issues
Young people are at greater risk of homelessness, particularly those leaving care, and more vulnerable when they are homeless. For that reason most young homeless people should be considered to be in priority need for rehousing. Nearly all homeless 16 and 17 year olds will be vulnerable and therefore in priority need under homelessness legislation in England.
Young people at risk of homelessness
Centrepoint's Youth Homelessness Index identified eight risk or trigger factors that make young people vulnerable to homelessness and/or directly cause them to become homeless:
- unemployment and socioeconomic marginalisation;
- experience of/leaving local authority care;
- family disruption in childhood, especially after age 3;
- experience of living with a step parent, particularly for young men;
- experience of parental neglect, abuse or violence;
- strained relationships and relationship breakdown with parents and step-parents;
- reliance on insecure accommodation settings, such as staying with friends or relatives;
- being asked to leave or being thrown out of the parental home.
See the section on Education and Young People in our briefing on homelessness prevention.
Young people and homelessness
A recent report from the Mental Health Foundation and Centrepoint, Making the Link between Mental Health and Youth Homelessness says that "increasing numbers of young homeless people with mental health problems are not getting adequate support because services rarely work together to provide the necessary help".
Some Solutions
Foyers
Foyers aim to make holistic provision for homeless young people encompassing safe and affordable accommodation, guidance and support, and access to learning and work. There are now 131 Foyers now open across the UK. The Foyer Federation is the national umbrella body. It developed Safe Moves, a proven approach to preventing homelessness among young people.
Further Resources
- Centrepoint is the country's largest youth homelessness agency.
- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation carried out an evaluation of Safe in the City, an innovative response to preventing youth homelessness.
- Shelter has produced a briefing on Tenancies for minors, i.e. 16-17 year olds.
Search for pages on Young People on the Homeless Link website.