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The development of prevention and early intervention services for homeless youth: intervening successfully

Summary

Project Number: 30156
Research Theme: Homelessness
Project Leader: Chamberlain, Chris
Funding Year: 2002
Research Centre: RMIT-NATSEM

Research & Policy Bulletin

Issue 049: School students who are homeless: finding solutions

Australia has some impressive programs in place to address homelessness among school-age children. Prevention programs such as school focused youth services (Victorian Government) and early intervention programs such as Reconnect (Australian Government) provide a model for other jurisdictions and would reduce youth homelessness.

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Description

This research examines, that by knowing how to prevent homelessness one must understand its causes. This rigorous study examines the main causes of, and pathways into youth homelessness using 1,220 case histories from the second national census of homeless school students, 377 case histories of young people in SAAP agencies, and 100 field interviews with school and agency welfare staff.

The key findings of the research are:

Effective prevention programs (broad based activities directed to all students in schools to build protection against homelessness) include:

• Funding for community network meetings to support an exchange of information and provide a forum for discussing issues and assist in developing personal and professional relationships which enable ‘things to get done’. The Victorian School Focused Youth Services program deploys 41 workers to facilitate coordinated service delivery between schools and community agencies and is found to be very effective and worthy of replication.
• National benchmarks for student welfare in secondary schools to implement good practice strategies and appropriate resource levels for student support services.

Effective early intervention strategies (focused on assisting particular young people who are at the earliest stages of homelessness) include:

• Family mediation services to coordinate and facilitate a range of services and supports as required on a case-by-case basis. The Australian Government funded Reconnect program is found to be very effective and worthy of replication.
• Community residential placement schemes to provide an accommodation option that gives homeless school students an alternative to crisis accommodation facilities. Often, homeless students stay temporarily with friends or relatives when they first leave home and then move on to crisis accommodation. To retain contact with family and peer networks, and reduce pressure upon SAAP services, support to sustain accommodation in the community may be a viable alternative.
  

More Information

Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 049: School students who are homeless: finding solutions
111 KB PDF Document

Positioning Paper: No. 048: The development of prevention and early intervention services for homeless youth: intervening successfully
1.6 MB PDF Document

Final Report: No. 069: Youth homelessness: four policy proposals
372 KB PDF Document