Youth homelessness can be overlooked but there is a way out – as Finn’s story proves | niltiac
Young people leaving home because of family conflict are one of the biggest groups of people in the so-called “hidden homeless” population.
Nationally, 29 per cent of young people presenting alone were couch-surfing when they made contact with a specialist homelessness service, compared with 16 per cent of the general homeless population. That means three out of four homeless people are in less visible forms of homelessness, including staying temporarily with other households, living in boarding houses or other temporary lodging, and living in severely crowded conditions.
Juretic said the government needed to intervene to support struggling families much earlier and parental education to communicate the potentially severe consequences of kicking a child out of home.