Refuge forced to turn young people away

Homeless young people are being turned away from Albany’s youth refuge because of a growing demand for crisis accommodation, according to Albany Youth Support Association chief executive Rick England.

Mr England said the association’s shelter, Young House, which provided eight beds year-round to 15 to 25-year-olds, was operating at full capacity.

“In Albany and Mt Barker we have seen a significant spike in the number of young people requiring homelessness assistance over the past few months,” he said.

“We feel we could easily fill another Young House.”

Young House has provided 2208 single nights of accommodation since July 1, 2015, which Mr England said was an 8 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

He said there had also been an 18.2 per cent increase in the number of young people seeking emergency accommodation.

AYSA’s latest figures also show a 10 per cent increase in the number of 12 to 18-year-olds in Albany, Mt Barker and Denmark accessing the association’s outreach program, Reconnect, over the past year.

Mr England said youth homelessness was a growing problem, particularly for young women.

“What we are finding is there are a lot of young people on the waiting list to enter Young House that we are turning away,” he said.

“Between January and May we have had to turn away 13 young people.

“Anecdotally, we have about eight young people waiting.”

Mr England said it was likely the homelessness rate was “much higher”, because youth who called about emergency accommodation and told there were no vacancies were not included in the association’s figures.

Mr England said there were common misconceptions about the causes of youth homelessness.

“Most of the young people we work with have significant issues with family breakdown or domestic violence,” he said.

“Sleeping rough tugs on the heartstrings when people see it but when you have to return to an environment that is not safe for you as a young person, that is often far more risky.”

Mr England said risks included being exposed to alcohol and drug abuse, child abuse and domestic violence.

“What we are missing in the region is transitional accommodation between refuge and independent living,” he said.