For the last several years, Threshold has focused in the spring on sharing the facts around youth aging out of government care on their 19th birthday. The late Katherine McParland, a leading youth housing advocate, once deemed aging out of care the “superhighway into homelessness” – a term that has proliferated. In the past three years, however, the government of BC has announced multiple funding and policy changes aimed at either creating off-ramps from that highway or relieving the housing crisis.
Over the next 9 weeks, we will measure the Government of BC announcements against the “Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care.” Incorporating input from the lived-experience community of youth currently and formerly in care, this report by Dr. Melanie M. Doucet, in collaboration with the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates, presents eight pillars of support that governments (and youth-serving agencies) can use as guides to support youth in healthy transitions into adulthood:
- Financial
- Education and Professional Development
- Housing
- Relationships
- Culture and Spirituality
- Health & Wellbeing
- Advocacy & Rights
- Emerging Adulthood Development
This blog series will look at each of these pillars, assess how the Government of BC is doing in meeting them, check our own services and programs to see how closely we align with the pillars, and identify how the pillars align with the principles of Housing First for Youth.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to be part of the conversation, please comment. We’d love to hear from you.