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Population: Youth
The causes of homelessness – and the challenges faced once on the streets – set street youth apart from the adult homeless population. High rates of domestic violence, poverty, disrupted home and school lives, abuse and neglect are commonly found in the backgrounds of street youth. Because they are young and lack experience of living independently, street youth face many challenges. They have difficulty obtaining affordable housing (landlords being reluctant to rent to a 16 year old), and because most are drop-outs, they have difficulty competing successfully in the job market. They are also vulnerable to a broad range of crimes, including sexual assault. Street youth that make money panhandling or as part of the sex trade feel trapped, worthless, lonely and hopeless. But drug addiction, a lack of social/government resources, and societal prejudice/oppression makes leaving the streets difficult.

Street youth receive a daily barrage of cruel comments an...d disgusted glances. They face numerous experiences with assaults, are denied jobs and apartments, and are victims of police brutality. As daunting and disheartening as many of these young peoples' experiences are, there is a great deal of strength and resourcefulness on the streets. Many youth work hard to value themselves, build a sense of agency, build hope and learn from having survived extremely adverse conditions.

To view street youth as criminals ignores the fact that many street youth are more often the victims of crimes, harassment and discrimination than the perpetrators. The range of legal and justice issues that face street youth are varied and complex. It involves: 1) illegal behaviours and involvement in the criminal justice system; 2) experiences as victims of crimes; 3) exploitation by employers, landlords and the police; 4) problems with family law; and/or, 5) issues with immigration.

There is a need to protect Canadian youth while they are living at home. This means providing greater resources to agencies and schools, catching abuse and neglect early, and providing mental health treatment to youth who have suffered in such environments. Second, training and education programs for street youth need to be developed to improve their sense of self-worth and opportunities for employment. Third, there is a pressing need for the development of affordable housing that is readily available to vulnerable youth. Fourth, better access to health care and mental health treatment is needed. Finally, there is a need for initiatives to combat the pervasive social stigma faced by these youth that dismisses them as squeegee kids and prostitutes and criminalizes their behaviour.

AUTHOR: Power, Asetha (2008) Homeless Hub. [Show More][Show Less]


Acknowledgements
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A Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) initiative. The CHRN has received financial support from the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada

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