Some young Canberrans risk homelessness or engagement in the justice system due to family conflict, but therapeutic respite accommodation will help them return home safely. For the first time in the ACT, young people aged eight to 15 years will be able to stay surrounded by youth support services.
The upcoming ACT Budget, due to be released next week, will expand the Safe and Connected Youth Program to include a residential therapeutic respite.
A Housing ACT property has been refurbished as accommodation, co-designed with young people who have been homeless. The 2020-21 Fast-Track program spent $1.2 million on the refurbishment, and the Rotary Club of Canberra has contributed financially to the renovation.
“Young people who have serious problems at home can risk disengaging from school, becoming homeless, and even entering the child protection or youth justice system,” said Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Families and Community Services.
The Youth Program, she explained, works with children and their families, offering outreach support, therapeutic case management, and family mediation, to reduce family conflict and ensure home is safe.
The pilot Youth Program helped most of the young people involved to return home safely, Ms Stephen-Smith said. Where that wasn’t possible, the program steered them away from homelessness, and ensured they had somewhere safe to live.
Based on South Australia’s Ruby’s Reunification Program, the ACT program is facilitated by the Youth Coalition of the ACT and the Rotary Club of Canberra, and works with Woden Community Service, Northside Community Service, Conflict Resolution Service, and Marymead.
Justin Barker, executive director of the Youth Coalition of the ACT, said the funding supported early intervention, and moderate and crisis interventions.
“It will cover both the outreach and residential needs of children and young people at risk of homelessness. These services prevent youth homelessness and all the risks associated with it.”
Through the 2021-22 ACT Budget, the ACT Government will spend $7 million for the Safe and Connected Youth: Coordinated Service Response Program:
· $4.1 million for the operational costs of therapeutic respite accommodation
· $2.6 million for early preservation outreach services, including mediation and casework
· $157,000 for post-exit outreach services
· $185,000 for establishing the program
Dr David Marshall AM, Chair of the Rotary Vulnerable Youth Project, commended the ACT Government for funding the refurbishment of a home in Canberra to provide a safe, short-term home for teenagers in need of urgent support.
