Manaaki Rangatahi report that young people experiencing homelessness are being further traumatized within the emergency accommodation where they have sought safety. Often these environments are unsafe, and unsuitable for young people to live in, and rangatahi report becoming victims of abuse and having their mental health further harmed as a result of the trauma they experience within these motel environments.

A hotel is not a suitable environment for young people experiencing homelessness to live in.

Manaaki Rangatahi is calling on the government to move away from its reliance on hotels as its primary solution for emergency need, and to instead invest in our people by building alternative solutions. Manaaki Rangatahi is calling on the government to provide Immediate Accommodation facilities with onsite wrap around support for young people experiencing homelessness.

It is largely acknowledged by the Government, community, and NGO sector that motels are not a suitable or sustainable solution to address the urgent needs of young people experiencing homelessness.

It is time that we looked at solutions, and begin to make provisions for our most vulnerable whānau experiencing homelessness. Immediate Accommodation facilities will go a long way to making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring, by ensuring that we support people with safe, stable housing immediately when they first experience homelessness, and then provide them with the support they need to transition back into stable accommodation.

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