Placing kids in motels is not a necessary evil... / A.J. Hendry
Rather, this practice demonstrates a failure to adequately plan and provide for the needs of our young people.
A recent report in the NZ Herald highlighted that due to lack of suitable and safe housing for rangatahi within Oranga Tamariki care, that children and young people are being placed in motels.
It was reported that one young person in particular has been living in a motel for about two years.
We have been told consistently, that motels are a better alternative than living on the street, that we have no other choice, that it is the best option out of some terrible choices.
But, that's not the case.
Having kids in motels is not a necessary evil.
It is a decision we've had to make as a result of a lack of investment and innovation in real solutions.
It also highlights our failure to adequately address and close the pipelines that feed into Youth Homelessness.
The care system being a key one.
There are currently 5,200 young people eligible for Transition Support Services, but there are only around 134 supported accommodation placements available for those young people.
As a result 1 in 10 young people are said to be living in “unstable accommodation” such as a car, garage, on the street, or in a hotel.
This is not an accident, it is a failure in planning.
Youth advocate and researcher Brook Turner, recently released research detailing the lack of housing options for rangatahi exiting care.
He highlights that in contrast to the number of young people exiting the system, we have a significant lack of housing options available leading to a situation where young people exiting care are at increased risk of homelessness as a result.
Due to this, we know through our collective experience within the sector, that there are a significant amount of young people leaving care who end up homeless and in emergency motels.
And yet, as Turner points out, the State, who has duty of care for our rangatahi, does not record data on this. Meaning essentially, the state does not know where our young people are.
Think about that for a second.
The state is essentially the guardian for these rangatahi, and yet cannot say with confidence today where those rangatahi are.
This reveals a critical failure in the States obligation to take responsibility for the children they have brought into their care. Without good data, we are starved for good insight, which in turn reflects on our ability to improve policy, legislation, resourcing and outcomes for our young people.
We know currently that the Care system is acting as a pipeline into homelessness for rangatahi. Having good data is essential for understanding the needs of our young people and ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs are recognized.
It is essential we get this right, we have young people today who are experiencing homelessness due to our collective failure to strategically plan for the provision of their needs.
What we know from our young people, is often this lack of safe and supportive housing is a huge factor in the deterioration of their mental health, feelings of hopelessness, the developments of addictions, and can be a driving factor in some young people's involvement in crime.
There is no doubt: this is a human rights crisis.
The good news is that we can solve this issue.
Manaaki Rangatahi, a collective of organizations advocating and organizing to #EndYouthHomelessness since 2018, has been calling on the Government to enact bold and innovative change to ensure no young person experiences homelessness within Aotearoa.
One of the key actions the Government could take today, is to enact legislation that would prevent Government agencies from exiting a young person into homelessness, creating accountability and ensuring that appropriate ministry's are thinking ahead and planning for our young people's needs.
Alongside this, we need all relevant Government agencies to be recording data on young people’s housing experiences, and the creation of an independent watch dog to keep such agencies accountable for upholding this basic human right our young people hold.
Aotearoa also does not have a strategy to end youth homelessness. This is despite the disproportionate overrepresentation of young people within the homeless community (about 50%).
It is imperative that we examine the pipelines and drivers of youth homelessness (of which the care system is a major one) and ensure we have a solid strategy in place to prevent and thus end it.
We need to develop a range of innovative solutions that provide care and safety for young people in critical need of housing. There are already a range of community organizations working on creative responses to respond to this need. The Government needs to back them.
Let's get more investment into the Youth Housing sector, empowering our communities to do what they do best.
Hold and heal their own.
We can end youth homelessness.
But, it will require courage, innovation, and a dogged willingness from all of us to do what needs to be done.
#EndYouthHomelessness
A.J. Hendry is a Laidlaw College graduate, and a Youth Development Worker and housing advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads a service supporting rangatahi experiencing homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.
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