The 2018 Youth Homeless Count
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2018 OCTOBER 2018 Prepared for the Metro Vancouver Community Entity, Homelessness Partnering Strategy By BC Non-Profit Housing Association Page 1 FOREWORD BY METRO VANCOUVER COMMUNITY ENTITY The Metro Vancouver Community Entity thanks all who contributed to the 2018 Youth Homeless Count, especially the youth who participated in the survey and the youth with lived experience of homelessness who participated in the planning and design of the project and survey questions. Thank you also to the members of the Project Team who gave their time, experience and expertise to the design and implementation of the project, and to all the staff of the youth-serving organizations and schools across the region that participated – all together your contributions have produced an unprecedented quality and quantity of reliable data. Thank you to the BCNPHA consultants for the excellent community development and research skills brought to this research project that involved a large and complex regional scope, which aimed to reach a largely hidden population while applying new methodologies – well done! Page 2 2018 Youth Homeless Count Project Team Alison Stewart Fraser Valley Regional District Annie Smith McCreary Society Averill Hanson Community Poverty Reduction Initiative Chelsea Grier Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association Crystal Williamson Service Canada, Homelessness Partnering Strategy David Baspaly Infocus Consulting David Wells Aboriginal Homelessness Steering Committee Dena Kae Beno City of Abbotsford Heather Lynch Options Community Services Jennifer Hales City of Vancouver Jonquil Hallgate Council of Community Homeless Tables Linda Lavallee Aboriginal Homelessness Partnering Strategy, Community Entity Lorraine Copas Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia Louise Sallai Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association Niki Cooke School District 43 Zach Batalden Pacific Community Resources Society Metro Vancouver Community Entity Theresa Harding Manager Jessica Hayes Regional Planner BC Non-Profit Housing Association Peer-Daniel Krause Project Manager Erika Sagert Coordinator Manager Brian Clifford Data Manager Count Coordinators Evan Hammer Burnaby/New Westminster Julie Hemily Vancouver Liam Schober Langley/Ridge Meadows Paul Butler North Shore Polly Krier Tri-Cities Tracy Lau Delta/Richmond Veronica Reiss Surrey/White Rock Report Design By Elana Siu Photograph By Tallulah Photography Partners This project was funded by the Metro Vancouver Community Entity, Page 3 Homelessness Partnering Strategy, Government of Canada. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The methodology for the 2018 Youth Homeless Count differed from a traditional Point-in-Time (PiT) homeless count approach by carrying out data collection over the course of nine days, rather than 24 hours. This new method was designed to provide more opportunities to make contact with youth experiencing homelessness across the region. The focus of data analysis for the 2018 count was to explore the different circumstances of youth experiencing homelessness who identified as Aboriginal/Indigenous and those who did not, specifically to assist with funding allocation and service provision in the region. There were two primary methods for data collection used in the 2018 Youth Homeless Count: (1) a paper-based survey and (2) an Excel-based service use spreadsheet. The survey instrument was intended to capture both the number of youth experiencing homelessness in the region and to provide a demographic profile of those youth. The service use spreadsheet was designed to supplement the enumeration process by recording youth who met the definition of youth homelessness, but who may not have wanted to answer a full survey. When combined, these two methods of data collection produced the total number of youth experiencing homelessness that were engaged with during the count period. In addition to the total number of youth engaged, the survey then provided further details regarding the experiences of a percentage of those youth. As such, readers will notice two different totals in the data presented below and throughout this report. Basic information was obtained from a total of 681 youth by combining the survey and service use spreadsheet data. Within that group, 356 youth provided further details about themselves through their answers to the survey. Data presented in this report (unless otherwise specified; see Section 1) came solely from the 356 youth who answered the survey (see Section 2). The figures presented below represent a percentage of the total number of youth who responded to the associated survey question, not necessarily the overall number of youth who answered the survey, since some youth chose not to answer every question. To explore the number of youth represented by the percentages below, please see the associated data tables in Sections 1 and 2 of this report. For more information on how to read the data collected through the 2018 Youth Homeless Count, see page 18. Total Number of Youth and Children Experiencing as female, and 4% identified as another gender. Homelessness An additional 121 youth did not provide an As was determined by the survey and the service answer to the gender question in the survey or in the use spreadsheet, a total of 681 youth and children service use spreadsheet. were found to be experiencing homelessness across Metro Vancouver between the 4th and 12th of April Indigenous Youth 2018. Of those, 643 youth aged 13 to 24 were found Of the youth who answered the survey question on living independently of their parent(s) or guardian(s) Indigenous identity, 42% self-identified as Indigenous. and a further 38 children (under age 25) were found Of those Indigenous youth, 65% further identified as with their parent(s) or guardian(s) while experiencing First Nations, 22% identified as Métis, and one youth homelessness. identified a s I nuit. Another 1 2% r eported t hey were Indigenous but did not further identify as First Nation, Sheltered and Unsheltered Youth Métis, or Inuit. On the night of April 4th, 35% of the 681 youth who responded to the survey or who were recorded Sexual Identity through the service use spreadsheet were sheltered, Through the survey question on sexual identity, indicating they were either staying in a shelter, 26% of youth identified t hemselves a s l esbian, gay, safe or transition house, or in a detox facility/ transgender, queer or two-spirit (LGBTQ2S). A higher recovery house. The other 64% indicated that they proportion of LGBTQ2S-identifying youth identified as were unsheltered on the night of April 4th, having female (48%), compared to the number of youth who stayed either outside in a vehicle, in a make shift identified as male (40%) or as another gender (22%). shelter or tent, in an abandoned/vacant building, or were staying temporarily indoors (couch-surfing). Age When Homeless for the First Time Just under two-thirds of survey respondents (64%) Gender Identity were between the ages of 13 and 18 when they Of the 681 youth who answered the question on experienced homelessness for the first time; another gender, 52% identified as male, 44% identified 7% reported being under 13 when they became Page 4 homeless for the first time. (20%) of youth reported that they received money from family/friends as a source of income. And at More than one quarter (26%) of youth reported slightly more than one quarter, 27%, indicated that experiencing homelessness either at age 15 or 16 for they held either a part-time or full-time job while the first time, representing the two ages youth most experiencing homelessness from April 4th to 12th commonly reported as the first time they became 2018. homeless. Indigenous youth reported first becoming homeless at a younger age than non-Indigenous School Attendance youth, with 75% of Indigenous youth becoming More than one quarter of survey respondents (27%) homeless for the first time under age 19, compared indicated they were currently attending school, to 67% of non-Indigenous youth. training or another educational program at the time of the count. Another 5% indicated that while they Family conflict was the most frequently reported were enrolled in some type of educational program, reason for youth becoming homeless for the first they were not currently attending. The majority of time, with 52% indicating as such. Drugs and youth attending school were aged 13 to 18 (86%). substance use/addiction was the second most A higher proportion of Indigenous youth (30%) were common reason at 40%. A further 33% of youth attending school, training or another educational survey respondents reported mental health program, compared to their non-Indigenous peers challenges as one main reason for becoming (23%). homeless for the first time. Main Barriers to Accessing Housing Foster Care, Group Homes, Independent Living More than half of youth who responded to the Half of respondents (50%) indicated they were question on what was keeping them from finding currently or had been previously in foster care, a group a place of their own reported that rent was too home or under an independent living arrangement, high (58%), and/or that their income was too low or and 11% of survey respondents indicated that they had no income (55%). aging out of care was one of the main reasons they experienced homelessness for the first time. Health, Mental Health and Addiction 51% of youth survey respondents reported having Please note: the 2018 Youth Count was the first of its two or more health conditions while 17% indicated kind, and therefore no directly comparable homeless they had no health conditions. A high number, 72%, count data exists for the information presented in this reported having a mental illness. Similarly, reports of report. As the project included a new methodology addiction were also high with 53% for enumerating youth homelessness, it cannot be reporting they were managing some form of directly compared to past homeless count initiatives addiction. in the region. Instead, the data included should be treated as the baseline for youth homelessness in Sources of Income Metro Vancouver.