Homelessness - Why are young people not at home?

Rachel McKinnon

In the Shire, we very rarely, if ever, see a dishevelled man sitting in the gutter with a tin can, as sadly we have become so accustomed to seeing in the city. We hear that we are not immune from the difficulties of homelessness, but where are they? Why don't we see it? Is homelessness an issue for the Shire??

Very simply...YES.

Homelessness looks quite different in the suburbs to the inner city. While rough sleeping is more common in the city; it is largely the couch-surfer and the occasional refuge-dweller who comprise the homeless population in the suburbs of the Shire. This form of homelessness may seem more subtle, more bearable, and as a community we can be blind to the problem on our very own doorsteps, and sometimes we can be apathetic about creating a solution. We fail to see that the old, unwashed and unshaven man with a tin can in Surry Hills tomorrow, is today a homeless youth in the suburbs. It is right here, in the Shire, that we have the opportunity to intervene...

Homelessness is far more than being without a house. A house is physical, but home is also social, emotional and spiritual. Home is a place of loving relationships. Home is a community. Home is a place to belong. Without a home, how do we know who are we? How do we know if we matter? How can we cope when things get tough? These are the questions young people are faced with every day. People, especially young people, will go to extreme lengths to find their place to belong. When I was working in an inner city refuge, I know of many people who, after years of homelessness, have secured accommodation, and yet chose to live the majority of their life on the streets, because it is with the other people on the streets, in those places, that they feel a sense of community, and ultimately that they feel they can belong. For the homeless, finding a roof is often not their biggest problem, finding a place and people with whom they are valued and accepted is what they are really looking for.

Last year, the Social Policy Research Centre found that 46 000 of the 100 000 people who are homeless each night in Australia are under the age of 25. But reality for most homeless young people, particularly in the Shire, is that their family does have a home...So why are these young people not at home?

While there is a unique story of the path to homelessness for every person who has ever found themself to be without a bed, the commonalities are remarkable. Interestingly, as I read over the topics for discussion today, I realised that the topics listed as 'threats to community' are probably the top four reasons that young people are not at home - Mental illness, Drug and Alcohol abuse, Family breakdown and Violence. And these factors are not independent of each other. For example, when drug and alcohol abuse is present in a family, mental illness, violence and family breakdown are highly likely also. Another major factor to add to that list is the extremely high rate of child sexual and/or physical abuse that accompanies homelessness, and for many people this is also an underlying factor in mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and violence.

In many families, young people are those caught in the middle of divorce, the unsuccessful merger of a blended family, financial hardship, intergenerational miscommunication and cultural "lost in translations" between first-generation immigrant parents and second or third generation (possibly mixed race) children. Young people can be an easy scapegoat for a systemic failure. So they emotionally disconnect, rebel, try even harder but equally unsuccessfully to be the "perfect" child, find something to help them escape, self-harm...try whatever is at their disposal in an ironic attempt to feel safe, to feel loved and to belong. When the 'threats to community' become 'threats to the home community', and dislocation from the family becomes unbearable, the young person probably doesn't know where they can or should go...but they know it is not at home.

We have the responsibility to determine both prevention strategies for our youth at risk of homelessness and reparation strategies for those who have already found themselves in the homelessness cycle. The Sutherland Shire Council Social Plan for 2005-2009 notes in several sections that increased access to services to alleviate or prevent homelessness is of high priority. Currently the Sutherland Shire has very insufficient resources for homeless youth.

Foremost in prevention should be facilitation and support for the development of relationally connected and resilient families as well as relationally connected and resilient communities. In other words, places where children, adolescents and adults will learn that they do, in fact, belong. In practice this may take the form of parent education and training, increased neighbourhood connection and solidarity, greater community awareness of available services and reduction in the stigma of accessing these resources, and increased involvement in community-based organisations such as schools, churches and clubs. 

Unfortunately, homelessness will always be a part of any society in which family breakdown occurs, and regardless of how innovative or wonderful our prevention strategies may become, there will always be an important role for assisting those who have already fallen into the homelessness cycle. Tackling homelessness is a highly complex, multi-faceted ambition, but the measure of a society's success in fact depends upon the way in which we treat those who are without a voice.

For the past two years I have been a volunteer with Community Outreach Ministries, run by Reverend George Capsis. Rev George, myself and other community volunteers attempt to provide some assistance to many young people such as those I have mentioned on a daily basis, but without funding for any paid staff, Community Outreach Ministries is currently struggling to meet the overwhelming demand. There are several other wonderful services that provide a range of crisis and medium-term assistance for homeless youth in the Shire including Shire Wide Youth Services in Cronulla and Menai, Jacaranda Cottage in Caringbah, The Bridge Youth Refuge in Sutherland, New Anchor Refuge in Jannali, Reconnect at Sutherland, Centrelink Social Services, and various counselling services which are able to offer reduced rates for people on a low income.

However, these services are often difficult to access. There is a stigma attached to accessing "help", and even when help is desired, young people often have no idea where to find it. And finally, if they do make contact with these services, they are likely to be turned away because the demand on the few services is just so huge. The recent National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness determined that 65% of young people who approach a youth accommodation service in NSW will be refused accommodation due to a lack of resources. This inquiry also found that Australia has various innovative and highly effective service models for homelessness support (RECONNECT for example has had great empirical backing), but tragically these resources have been buried because funding has not been provided for their implementation.

Tackling homelessness may take many forms, but collaboration between accommodation services, mental health, drug & alcohol support, financial services and advocacy agencies is essential to tackle this many-armed monster. Stronger links between short, medium and long-term accommodation services and consistent case-management are required, and many other ins and outs that we don't have time to go into today. BUT ultimately, overcoming homelessness will mean restoration to community. For some homeless young people this will be reconciliation with their family. For many it will be integration into a new community, rich in those qualities of love and relationship that they may have never truly know before...for some a church community, for others a close group of friends, or a "surrogate" family. It is my prayer that by 2020, all those who find themselves homeless in the Shire will know where to look for help, will be greeted with open arms, provided boundless time and resources to assist them, and after it all...that they will find their place to belong.