Project outcomes

Long-term outcomes

Recommendation 11: Provincial policy and resources to prevent and end youth homelessness; inter-ministry coordination and community collaboration to prevent and end youth homelessness; and end youth homelessness and ensure immediate responses to youth at risk of homelessness.

What commitments and strategies would a Provincial Plan include?

A commitment of provincial government responsibility to end youth homelessness

Recommendation 12:

• Collaboration with and advice to government on:
  
  
  • Policy changes and coordinated, inter-ministry provincial responses; and
  • Promising practices to end youth homelessness including prevention, housing, and support programs.
• Recommendations of financial resources from the provincial government to support local communities housing and support programs to end youth homelessness.
• An implementation plan and process that ensures Youth First Voices, Indigenous Voices and B.C. communities are heard.

What commitments and strategies would a Provincial Plan include?

A strategy for youth housing

Recommendation 13:

• To meet the needs of youth, communities should be supported to develop an array of housing options. This includes: emergency housing, stabilization housing, mentorship programs, transition housing, scattered site units, private market housing, and access to subsidized market housing.
• Articulate the support needs of youth housing programs in B.C. Housing supports should include: therapy for trauma related to physical and sexualized violence, mental health and substance-use treatment and counseling, life-skills, outreach, health, sexuality, recreation, cultural, education, employment, and peer support.
• Provincial targets and bench-marks such as number of housing units needed.

What commitments and strategies would a Provincial Plan include?

A strategy for preventing youth homelessness

Recommendation 14:

• Assess current access statistics and ensure timely access to specialized therapy and victim services for children and youth who experience physical and sexualized violence, and other childhood experiences associated with later youth homelessness.
• Explore the concept of “duty to assist” as a rights-based approach to ending youth homelessness; investigate prevention legislation such as in Wales where there can be a duty to assist youth, likely to be homeless within 56 days, to secure accommodations.
• Prevent youth homelessness by reducing system discharges into homelessness by coordinating ministries at the provincial level and by bridging transitions from foster-care/provincial care, justice, hospitals, treatment facilities, and mental-health systems.

What commitments and strategies would a Provincial Plan include?

A strategy for supports to end youth homelessness

Recommendation 15:

• Ensures an Indigenous lens and leadership role in developing a culturally responsive plan to support Indigenous programs and governments.
• Ensure adequate mental health, substance-use, life-skills, employment and education supports for youth.
• A strategy to incentivize coordinated supports at local levels.

What commitments and strategies would a Provincial Plan include?

Collaborative research, planning and information-sharing to end youth homelessness

Recommendation 16:

• Collaborate with leaders in youth homelessness such as A Way Home Canada to conduct research, provide training and identify strategic approaches to developing a plan to end youth homelessness.
• Develop a provincial community of practice through support for coordination and information-sharing efforts.
• Be the catalyst to develop a coordinated youth point-in-time count and gather the evidence we need to address the magnitude of the problem.
• Environmental scan of promising practices in B.C.
• Provide a strategy and support for rural and remote communities.