Mr. Wayne Stanley:

We thank the committee for the invitation. I am joined by my colleagues Karen and Aisling, who run the dedicated youth service in Galway Simon Community. It is a service we are very proud of and it identified a number of the issues we are going to talk about. The Simon Communities are also a member of the Irish Coalition to End Youth Homelessness and sit on the national homeless action committee. In these roles, we have ongoing collaborative dialogue with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the development of the upcoming youth homelessness strategy.

Today we wish to highlight the needs and experiences of young people who have experienced household disruption or adverse childhood experiences but who have never officially entered State care. These young people are over-represented in homelessness because they fall through the cracks of support systems. We bring this discussion to the committee because we believe there is the potential to reduce the experience of homelessness for these young people through targeted intervention and collaboration. In our broader submission, we have also highlighted the needs of young people leaving State care. This group are an identifiable population, meaning it is easier to target them with housing supports and homeless prevention.

However, our focus today lies with an additional cohort who have experienced adverse childhood experiences but have not been taken into care. Some of these may be known to Tusla due to welfare concerns, most likely because they experienced family breakdown as a late teenager but did not officially enter care, possibly because they aged out or because the circumstances at the time were not deemed to be at a level of risk that warranted significant intervention. This can include those who have had experiences of abuse, who have been surrounded by addiction or who have experienced family breakdown in their late teens. Studies show these young people are over-represented among early school leavers, experience higher rates of mental health difficulties and are over-represented among homeless adults compared with the general population.

The concern is that this group are, to a certain extent, currently unknown or invisible and, therefore, there appears to be less awareness of their needs, which we fear is compounding the issues. These young people often require support but they fall through the cracks of our support systems, making them vulnerable to homelessness, poverty and educational disadvantage. They do not have access to social supports similar to those provided in aftercare, which prepare young people for the transition into adult life. They often receive a lower social welfare rate, which can compound the risk of poverty and housing insecurity. We fear they are vulnerable to hidden homelessness because they do not have support to navigate or be able to afford the housing market. They are not entitled to housing support or targeted homelessness prevention such as the capital assistance scheme, CAS, for care leavers provided through Tusla and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. They are not currently entitled to additional educational supports for children in care and aftercare such as the bursary scheme operated by Tusla and the Department of Children, Disability, Equability, Integration and Youth. The upcoming youth homelessness strategy appears firm that it will focus on young people after the age of 18. However, the threat of homelessness and housing security begins well before then. Therefore, Tusla in particular can play a central role in protecting this group from housing insecurity. A co-ordinated, universal response and policy measures can be developed and implemented to protect this group from homelessness and housing insecurity as they enter adulthood.

There are a number of recommendations in that regard. Additional key workers can provide support into early adulthood, including with homelessness prevention. Existing homelessness prevention policies such as the CAS for care leavers could be expanded to be more inclusive of all young people at risk of homelessness. Young people under the age of 25 are still subject to a lower social welfare rate. While some categories of young people have been included in the higher rate, this particular welfare group are not and this compounds their risk of poverty and homelessness. Collaboration could also be increased. Galway Simon Community's dedicated youth service is a prime example of successful collaboration between a range of stakeholders. This multi-agency partnership that exists between Galway Simon Community, Galway City Council and Tusla to ensure youth services are well informed and young people are well supported has proven effective in the outcomes it is having for young people, such as increased employment among the group. There is further potential in this model if appropriate housing can be sourced. While this might look different in other areas where working relationships differ, the core principle of a dedicated partnership service has proven very effective. The Simon Communities of Ireland see value and potential in this model and wish to work with the committee and agencies to promote and extend this type of collaborative work.