The following article was originally presented at CPC 2009 AGM. It has been updated.

Shedding a light on youth homelessness is very timely, as the Ontario government is undertaking an Affordable Housing Consultation and the federal government is reviewing the Housing Partnership Strategy Program - national funding to help address homelessness of many groups across Canada. It is vital that the federal, provincial and municipal governments include in their strategies a focus on funding and policies to prevent youth homelessness and support youth at risk for homelessness through a number of strategies. This should be part of a broader housing and poverty-reduction strategy at the provincial and federal level that includes seniors, families and other low-income people.

"Counting" homeless youth, or any other group of homeless people, is not very reliable and tends to underestimate the problem. There are youth in shelters and visibly or invisibly homeless on the streets, under bridges, and in abandoned buildings, but there are many more sharing a couch and insecurely housed in various unreliable and inadequate temporary transitional arrange-ments. Sometimes these arrangements create vulner-ability, risk and victimization.

The National Housing and Homelessness Network placed the total number of homeless between 200,000 and 300,000 in 2006. Youthworks, a project of Raising the Roof, which has been studying youth homelessness across Canada, estimates that roughly 65,000 young people are homeless or living in homeless shelters across Canada. In November 2008 Raising the Roof hosted its second national conference on youth homelessness with hundreds of youth and youth-serving agencies participating. The aim of the conference was to share national research on youth homelessness and create a national policy and advocacy framework. The final report, with policy recommendations, was released in May 2009. Youth Homelessness in Canada: The Road to Solutions is available on their website. www.raisingtheroof.org.

Some highlights from this Report

• Age: as young as 12 years and as old as 29, whereas social services usually defines youth as 16 to 24 years.
• 22 per cent said they did not have a positive role model in their life.
• 62 percent had drdropped out of school reflecting lack of support to help street-involved youth stay in school.
• 43 percent had previous involvement with child welfare.
• 68 percent had come from foster care, group homes or a youth centre.
• 71 percent had previous criminal justice involvement.
• 63 percent had grown up in a family that found it difficult to maintain consistent housing and they were now reliving this experience. The cycle of poverty seemed persistent.
• 21 percent had children or were pregnant or with a partner who was pregnant.
• 70 percent reported no positive role model in their life.
• 25 percent reported some form of sexual, physical or emotional abuse.
• 50 percent described substance abuse as regular behaviour. Other issues reported were mental health problems and negative peer influence from street culture

"Aging out" of child welfare care

One potential pathway to youth homelessness is the premature independence and subsequent housing, income and life struggles that youth have who are "aging out" of child welfare care. Child welfare organizations across Canada are governed by a patchwork of legislation to protect children and youth from child abuse and neglect. In Ontario the legislation is the Child and Family Services Act and there are 52 local child welfare organizations. They are mandated, along with the family court system, to intervene to protect a child who is being abused or at risk of abuse or neglect, up to and including admission into foster care or group care or to the legal process where they may become a society ward or crown ward - which means a child of the state. After being admitted to child welfare care, some children are returned home to parents once there are no child protection concerns, or they may go to live with relatives or kin as appropriate.

If a youth 18 to 21 years is a crown ward and is in school, working, or following an action plan agreeable to the social workers and is living independently, that is, out of foster or group care, he/she can receive a monthly Extended Care Allowance in Ontario ranging from $730 to $800 a month (this benefit ranges across the province). However, regardless of the youth's capabilities or issues, there are specific birthdays where services are reduced in the child welfare system in Ontario. At age 18, the youth must move out of foster or group care and find his/her own housing unless a foster parent will keep him/her with no further financial support from Children's Aid Society (CAS). On the youth's 21st birthday, he/she can receive no more services from the social worker and no more monthly allowance. I have spoken to many youth who fear these sudden cuts in services and support. Many youths don't have the life skills, supports or mentors to succeed at living independently and yet the Ontario government's funding system doesn't support them or allow for any flexibility. Youth who have to transition out of care and find housing struggle with issue of low incomes, along with the lack of affordable and supportive housing, long waiting lists for social housing, poor housing conditions, frequent moves and couch-surfing with friends/ family, and dealing with landlords who may discriminate against youth.

There are some semi-independent homes for this transition between 16 and 21 years in Toronto and in Ontario but not enough for the number of youth affected. In 2007, the Catholic Children's Aids Society of Toronto (CCAS) and the CAS of Toronto (CAST) estimated that 2,500 youths in care were in transition out of care (16-21 years of age) and would be needing housing and other support in the next few years.

In Toronto there is a unique service called PARC (Pape Adolescent Resource Centre) which provides a wide variety of support and housing services to about 400 youths per year who are in care or aging out of care up to age 30. However, PARC is one of a kind, mainly funded by foundations, and can only support a small number of the hundreds of youth aging out of care annually in Toronto, across the Greater Toronto Area and in the rest of Ontario. In addition, in 2004 CAST and the CCAS formed a non-profit charity, Homefree - Affordable Housing for Youth, to develop and advocate for housing solutions for youth aging out of care.

The National Youth in Care Network estimates that across Canada there are over 75,000 children and youths in care on any given day. In Ontario in 2007, more than 29,000 children received services and support from both Ontario's CCAS and CAS, an increase of 24 percent since 2000/2001. In 2007, more than 5,000 youths, 16 to 21 years, were in the care of CAS in Ontario alone. In Toronto the CCAS and CAST estimated, in 2007, that 2400 wards 16 to 21 years or older were going to need housing and transitional support in the next few years.

Despite the number of these young people leaving care, there is no comprehensive national or provincial system of support to help them successfully transition out of care and prevent home-lessness. As a result, there are too many youth falling through the cracks and society is failing to help them achieve their goals and aspirations.

Youth in Care, nationally and in Ontario, has been advocating for more supports including extending the length of care to 25 years, increasing supports for youth to complete post-secondary school and providing other supports such as employment, counsel-ing/mentoring, and housing. Certainly these investments would have a cost but as a society we would be taking care of "our children" and would be preventing more costly services down the road. Also the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies released a report, Building Bridges to Belonging : Promises Practices for Youth, in August 2009. www.oacas.org. which pro-motes recommendations for youth in care that are in keeping with "What would a good parent do", and includes extending care for youth, building life long relationships, health, education, and housing.

• Leave school before completing high school
• Become a parent at a young age
• Be dependent on social assistance
• Be unemployed or underemployed
• Be incarcerated or involved with the criminal justice system
• Experience homelessness
• Have mental health problems
• Be at higher risk for substance abuse issues. Youth had better outcomes if they had the opportunity when out of care to:
• Complete high school
• Access post-secondary opportunities and role models
• Refrain from alcohol and drug use
• Obtain life skills training
• Experience stable placements when in care and supports including housing in transition out of care.

Raising the Roof estimates it costs $30,000 to $40,000 a year to keep a youth in a shelter system. The cost of keeping one youth in detention is over $250 a day, or $100,000 a year. Left unsolved, the long term costs to health care, criminal justice, social services, and emergency shelter will grow.

The way forward - how can you help?

Many organizations, youth, and other citizens are calling for a focus on housing solutions for homeless youth and youth transitioning out of care. Alliances with as many citizens, youth, and other allies such as seniors, parents, social agencies is vital to promote these needs and solutions. Please help add your voice to these groups if you can.

Raising the Roof - Youth-works. Support Raising the Roof in their work to engage youth, youth serving agencies and businesses to advocate for solutions in the areas of prevention, systems reform, emergency responses, and transitions and support out of homelessness. Raising the Roof recognizes that a continuum of supports are required to engage youth and support their transition to stability including: food, shelter and health care to meet basic needs, safe environment including shelters and drop-ins, education and training with support as needed, social networks and mentors, and harm reduction. To break out of street-life, youth need opportunities for safe, stable, affordable accommodation; pathways to finish school, get training or a job; have their needs for stability and support met like their peers; and participate in planning their own life and goals.

Homefree Non-Profit Housing Corp. is a charitable organization that partners with CCAS and CAST and has a mission to create housing solutions for youth leaving care. Homefree has been advocating for youth leaving care and wants them to be one of the government's priorities and included in national, provincial, and municipal housing policies. Youth leaving care require truly affordable housing in the $300 to $380 range that youth transitioning out of care could afford. Homefree has secured 82 housing allowances for youth leaving care where rents are discounted by $350 a month for five years. This has not been evaluated yet but some youth report it has made a big difference in securing stable housing. Homefree is advocating for youth transitioning out of care to be a priority group for housing strategies and funding at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, including Toronto's Housing Opportunity Toronto 10 year Strategy". amfitzpatrick@torontocas.ca

Homefree would like to see new affordable housing for youth leaving care that is a model where youth live with people of mixed incomes and ages. At the recent Chester Village site that will be developed as seniors' housing, CAST advocated that the city consider allocating a few units for youth leaving care. It was not successful. CAST is now reaching out for partnerships to include units for youth in any housing projects going forward.

Other youth agencies are promoting innovative solutions such as Eva's Phoenix which provides transitional housing and Young Parents NO fixed address that developed a 24-unit affordable housing project for young parents at 1900 Sheppard Ave. West. These developments take a lot of persistence, sometimes decades of work, especially dealing with some vocal community opposition to social housing. But in the end, the tenacity and the vision, and government support with funding has resulted in more opportunities for youth to succeed through the provision of housing with supports.

The Toronto Youth Cabinet recommended to Toronto City Council two years ago that 10 percent of all social housing be allocated to youth (from their report Falling through the Cracks). The recommendation has not been adopted.

"On a scale of 1- 10, my access to affordable housing was a 7 in importance to help my transition out of care and in my success in going to university, coping with my transition out of care, and later raising two children". - young woman, former youth-in-care.