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York Regit n's {mt-line social service mrrkers and school board administrators launched the first nf sewn, teaming sessions Focused on youth homelessness Way. Youth homelessness under mlcroscope 1n reglon drab: ré‘i‘yrmgxom The spotlight is about In shine on youth homelessness in the Hosted by United Way York Rpgiun and ank University at the Markham (Znnvergnce Centre. the series such to develop an integrated rc:.ponse to the grow. 'mg number of young people dropping off he radar. The programs feature Ear-flung key‘ note speaker. sharing their strat- egies and successes. Niagara Resource Sendce for Y0th executive director Mike Lethby shared research findings and initialivrs resulting from a study on 301058 to employment for homeless people in the Niagâ€" ara Region. Working with aber youth and their families. he helped move his region’s youth service model fmm a wartime institutional crisis model to a p mntative commu~ nity model. Mr. Letht v. who established United W04 “aim”? HAVE YOUR SAY launch lazming sessions b What WM youfltetosee av cumsmnan mplxetoaddtcssyomhhomdessms? Goldbookca has you covered from Real Estate Agbnts ’ ard Brokers to Moving and Storage companies. ” ‘ Moving? the non-profit Foundation of Resources for Teens. tofid attend- ees many aspects of youth home lessness in Niagara min-0t that of York Region. There's a lack of support for youth in rural communities as services are concentrated in urban hubs. he said. Youth are most vulnerable to addictions. sexual exploitation. violence and legal issues. Niagara's regional govern- ment. social service agencies. shelters and the public and Cath- olic school boards rallied to study the cause and effect of homeless- ness. Research determined 80 per cent of Niagara youth identified conflict at home as the cause of their homelessness. ' That changed when his study was completed in 2006. He discovered there was no unearth or regional system for the prevention of youth home- E-mil Mammal! Funhor. they discnvcred the median age of homeless youth is 16. half were from rural com- munities and all respondents said their situation was a conse- quence of multiple stmssorx Based on findings. stakehold- ers developed a community- based prevention strategy allow- ing youth to stay in School while stabilizing their housing. all the while helping youth and their families connect to local support Outcomes were encouraging. Mr. Lethby said. In 100 per cent of cases. a young person's homeless- ncss received a msponse within 48 hours and in 85 per cent of cases. youth received income support access Systemwide. shelter use byyomhwasreducedby lSpet cent. Bluc Door Shelters executive director Patti Bell said she was buoyed by the meeting and pros- Region. “It'll be fabulous to have the the series seeks to develop an integrated response to the growing number of young people dropping off the soda! radar. of similar rescafch inYork cold hard facts on York Region." she said. "It will energize every- one to move fofward. Meaningful research will give teeth to youth services. A collaborative effort. together with like-mind people. will result in accessible services to youth with better impact.” The pannership with York University will provide four stuâ€" dent researchers. who will tows on a regional youth homeless study beginning in May. United Way knowledge mobilization officer lane Wedlock said. The session was an impor- tant first step. York Region Dis- trict School Board community resource facilitator Yvonne Kelly ,Ms Kelly. who also provides volunteer advocacy work for York Region's Food Network and Social Planning Council. suggest- ed it would be helpful to have peer research through our high schools. Food Network exctutivc director loan Sionchockcr wax cnthuscd at the notion solutions to youth homelessness will be approached with a focus on pm- vemion rather than crisis man- agemem. "If we can catch kids while thcy’m in school. we can prevent a whole series of disruptions.” she said. STA" FILE M0706USJ£ KOCKEIS€HUDV e The series is for professionals from various sectors across York Region, indud- iig education. child protection, health. c’niidren and youth mental health, nos- pitals, youth justire, poke. social servi(e organizations and regional, provincial and federal government. - v Each session indudes a keynote pre sentation. questions and answers and facilitated discussion. > The next two sessions have been confirmed. 0 Addressing homelessness and mental health challenges is the locus on March 8 from9to ll a.m.Thekeynoteisby(heryl Forchulc, Ph.D., professor and associate director of nursing research, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing Faculty of Health Sciences. University of Western Ontario. Registration begins at 8:30 am. in the Magna Room, Aurora library 15145 Yonge SM Aurora. D On Aptil 5,9 to 11 a_m.,at the Markham Conveigence (entre, 7271 Warden Ave, with registration at 8.30 am. The topic is loin'lig the dots: understand- ing the links between child protection and youth homelessness. Keynote: Naomi Nichols, Ph.D., applied social scientist Learning Institute at the Hospital for Sick (hrldten and 00,000 professor, Queen s Trent (oncunent Education Program. 9 For information and to register, contact Jane Wedlodc knowledge mobilization officer, United WayYorlt Region, at 905- 4749974 ext. 223 or e-mail to iweclloclc d‘ uwyr.on.ca GET INVOLVED