Page 3066 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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commitment from a range of support services and the need to recognise and respond to individual experience and circumstance.
The ACT government’s response to improving this situation is comprehensive. I would like to share with you some of the areas of this response. In April 2004, the ACT government released Breaking the cycle: the ACT homelessness strategy, providing 82 specific actions to reduce homelessness in the ACT. Implementation is overseen by the ACT Homelessness Committee. To date, 56 of the actions have been implemented, with another 26 underway to be finalised by December this year. The ACT Homelessness Committee will continue to oversee implementation of the remaining 26 actions, as well as monitor evaluation of the strategy.
In July 2007 DHCS launched the Institute of Child Protection Studies research report Finding their way home: children’s experiences of homelessness. The work involved engaging 25 children and young people to explore their experience of homelessness. The research was commissioned by the ACT Homelessness Committee and the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support to inform policy and practice and improve the service responses and outcomes for children and families across DHCS.
Eighteen children aged six to 14 and seven children aged 15 to 21 participated in the study. Eight participants identified as being from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. All had experienced homelessness with their families, with periods of homelessness ranging from four months to 10 years. Parents and key stakeholders were also interviewed about how children experienced and were affected by family homelessness.
The final report relies strongly on the voices of the children and young people involved. It was reported that children in this study felt that homelessness was a subjective experience that was determined more by their level of connectedness to family and to community and the absence of fear, instability and insecurity than by their housing status. When housed, they stressed the importance of having adequate space; having a sense of control over their environment; housing stability and predictability; and feeling connected to friends, supports and opportunities. Children’s experiences of homelessness were often precipitated and exacerbated by parental conflict and family violence; poverty; parental, alcohol or other drug misuse; and other related personal and family issues.
Children’s experiences were characterised by high levels of family separation; exposure to violence; poor health outcomes; feelings of stress, anxiety, loss and grief; social isolation; and difficulties in attending and achieving at school and making and keeping friends. A number of young people in the sample experienced intergenerational homelessness and were now parents whose own children had accompanied them during periods of homelessness. Of particular concern was the report’s finding that children from families experiencing homelessness often experience other problems at school, with their health, and in making and retaining friends. This may put them at an even greater risk of experiencing disadvantage and social exclusion later in life.
DHCS will work with the supported accommodation assistance program, SAAP, and other services to implement responses to the findings of the report throughout
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