Youth homelessness

Young people aged between 12 and 25 are the single largest group assisted by the homelessness service providers in Victoria. In 2001-02, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program provided support to an estimated 11,100 young people.

Young people need connections that will help them to move on from the experience of homelessness.

The Victorian Government funds and supports not-for-profit organisations to deliver support to young people who experience homelessness.

Creating Connections: Youth Homelessness Action Plan Stage 2: 2006-10

Young people need connections that will help them to move on from the experience of homelessness. Through the Creating Connections: Youth Homelessness Action Plan Stage 2, the Victorian Government will provide more help to young people who experience homelessness, with a focus on:

• early intervention and creating connections
• accommodation and support tailored for each individual young person
• better access to services for young people with complex needs
• services and workers who can assist the young people of today

Creating Connections sets out long term strategies for change over the next five years. The Victorian Government will work with managers and service providers in the sector to implement the plan.

Creating Connections provides an opportunity to for service-providers to strengthen their capacity to meet the needs of homeless young people. Through this plan, the service system will be developed in three ways:

• projects will be established to improve service coordination
• a youth-specific workforce strategy will be developed, and
• by documenting and promoting methods of working and training that incorporate new directions

 Creating Connections: Youth Homelessness Action Plan Stage 2: 2006-2010 (PDF Size 409KB, Pages 54)

Evaluation of Creating Connections: Youth Homelessness Action Plan Stage 2

The Department of Human Services, Office of Housing has engaged KPMG to undertake an evaluation of Youth Homelessness Action Plan Stage 2 (YHAP 2) which commenced in January 2009 and will be completed in October 2009.

The objectives of the evaluation are to:

• determine how effectively directions and actions identified under YHAP2 have built upon the learnings and achievements of Youth Homelessness Action Plan 1, and to inform future funding and reform deliberations
• understand the extent to which both YHAP2 service system developments and intervention responses have contributed to the outcome of enabling homeless young people to progressively achieve housing stability and social inclusion

Information about the progress of the evaluation is contained in the newsletters below:

 YHAP2 Evaluation Newsletter 1 - February 2009 (Word Size 59KB, Pages 2)

 YHAP2 Evaluation Newsletter 2 - April 2009 (Word Size 1MB, Pages 4)

 YHAP2 Evaluation Newsletter 3 - July 2009 (Word Size 98KB, Pages 5)

 YHAP Evaluation Newsletter 4 - July 2009 (Word size 66KB, Pages 3)

 YHAP Evaluation Newsletter 5 - August 2009 (Word size 87KB, Pages 3)

Note: The sixth newsletter will be issued in October 2009 and will outline key findings from the evaluation.

An information pack has been developed to provide stakeholders participating in consultations and focus groups with details about the evaluation and about the evaluation activities. 

This information pack provides the following information:

• overview of the evaluation
• specific information about the regional focus groups, including the types of information that will be discussed, what will be done with that information and the role of stakeholders
• next steps in the evaluation process
• key contacts for more information

 YHAP2 information pack (Word Size 1B, Pages 16)