Kick Back, a Youth Development Organization responding to Youth Homelessness, has grave concerns about the Government's decision to get tougher on people needing Emergency shelter.

Kick Back is specifically concerned that this decision will cause greater harm to young people experiencing homelessness, with the most likely outcome resulting in more young people sleeping rough on the street, or pushed into incredibly vulnerable situations where they are at increased risk of exploitation and abuse.

Kick Back is concerned that the policy fails to account for the extreme vulnerability of young people surviving homelessness. Emergency Housing is already insecure and often unsafe for young people, however for many, the alternative is sleeping on the street, or risking exploitation or abuse, simply to gain shelter.

"We need to begin recognizing the seriousness of the situation we are dealing with. When a young person experiences homelessness it’s not a stretch to say that for some young people, their lives are literally at risk. Suicide, physical abuse, sexual assault, these are all very real realities for our young people." says Aaron Hendry, Kick Back's co-founder.

Though Kick Back believes moving away from the use of motels as an emergency housing option is a laudable goal, we are concerned that without alternative services in place to support people in crisis, and without fundamentally addressing the complex reasons why young people experience homelessness, we are risking intensifying the pain and trauma they are enduring.

"When we neglect our duty to care for our most vulnerable, we are all impacted. The reality is, all these issues that have been dominating the public conversation are connected. Whether you're concerned about suicide and youth mental health, youth unemployment, truancy, or even youth crime, you'll find that there is a number of these young people impacted by all these issues, who are also enduring the indignity of homelessness." Shares Hendry, "Until we get serious about tackling poverty and ending youth homelessness, we will continue to be dealing with the symptoms rather than actually addressing the core of the issues!"

Kick Back calls on the Government to begin working with the community to develop a comprehensive plan to address youth homelessness, and asks for immediate attention to be given to supporting alternative models to emergency housing in order to ensure that no young person is abandoned to the street.

Models such as Kick Back's, The Front Door, an early intervention and crisis response service located in Auckland Central (delivered in partnership with Mana Services), and The Safety Net Project, a host home alternative to motels for rangatahi (which Kick Back has developed in partnership with Massey Community Trust), demonstrate that alternatives are possible and required.

The current way we respond to people in immediate housing need is not fit for purpose. However, getting tougher on young people who are already in extremely dangerous and unsafe situations, is not the answer.

We do not build safer, more vibrant, stronger communities, by making life so much harder for those who are already shoved so far to the margins of our society!

To exit emergency shelter safely, our young people require stability, support, aroha and care.

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