On Wednesday, The Mercury reported on youth crime in Maitland. Police said part of why it happens is trouble in the family home. Today, we looks at the effect that problem is having on other services in Maitland.
Homelessness. For many of us it’s just a word.
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But for some young people in Maitland, they don’t just know what it’s like, it’s a devastating reality – leaving their parents’ home and in some cases, not being able to go back.
The Mercury reported on Wednesday that police said a lack of family structure and responsibility was a huge factor in why kids were committing crime.
And Samaritans Youth Accommodation Maitland say it’s also a big reason why youths are finding themselves turning to support services for a bed to sleep in.
The service has four beds available to 12 to 17 year olds and at times in the past, all four have been full.
“There are times when we’re getting referrals and we have no beds available,” Samaritans Youth Accommodation Maitland coordinator Kim Thorpe said.
“The demand is out there and we’re trying to meet that need.”
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case over Christmas.
“We tend to go a bit quiet over Christmas, because I think people think they can make these things work,” she said. “But then we have the influx after Christmas sadly when things have not gone as well as they’d hoped.”
And another busy period?
“When it’s cold and damp, sometimes the phones will ring more then.”
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Ms Thorpe said there were many reasons why kids reached out for a place to stay.
Family breakdown, parents’ substance misuse, young people substance misuse, parents being evicted, overcrowding in their own homes, behavioural issues, trauma, violence, abuse and sexual assault are just some factors.
“You think you’ve seen it all and then something new comes along,” Ms Thorpe said. “It’s wide and varied.”
But once the child is there, it’s not just a matter of giving them a bed. The kids do their own cooking and washing and are encouraged to see family and friends.
“It’s all about balance – not doing too much for the individual so they become service dependent, but doing enough to support them given their young age.”
There are times when we’re getting referrals and we have no beds available.
- Samaritans Youth Accommodation Maitland's Kim Thorpe
Ms Thorpe said they also worked with young people to identify barriers to returning home, put them in touch with services such as mental health support, encouraged them to re-engage with school and helped them “get to a better place so they can have a better outcome at the end of the stay”.
She said they aimed towards a six week timeline of finding a permanent home.
“Quite often it’s not returning to the home they’ve left – they may leave home where either mum or dad is and return to nan and pop or aunt and uncle. They may choose to couch surf, move in with a friend.
“Obviously you do get some people who have to come in more than once. They may go out and where they’ve gone to is not sustainable – in general we try to prevent that happening.
“We can have some stunning outcomes. They may return home after two to three days where at the point of entry it was like there was no hope whatsoever.
“But then you get some where it leaves you feeling a bit raw because it hasn’t turned out the way you would hope, or the way they hoped which is more important.”
Does that happen often?
“Oh yeah – in the homelessness service it’s almost your bread and butter.
“If someone’s had trauma for many years we’re not going to fix that in six weeks. But hopefully in that time we’ve done enough to get some support services around them.”
One of those support services is Headspace Mental Health Foundation, which also works with police to engage with troubled youths.
Kids can either present to Headspace for help or be referred by their doctor, police, Juvenile Justice or another service.
But as is the case with youth crime and homelessness, unfortunately for kids with little family support the outcomes aren’t always positive.
“Some kids are probably not likely to engage if they don’t have parental support or the ability to actually get here,” Headspace Maitland manager Felicity Scott said.
“If you haven’t got a supportive parent or you are homeless it does make it that much more difficult.”
Ms Scott said the service had “enormous success” with kids who self present, but not so much with those who come in through police or the justice system.
“If someone’s telling them they have to, or it’s part of a bail condition, they can be more resistant because they don’t feel like they have power and control in their own life.
“If Juvenile Justice has referred them and they don’t take part, there are implications. It might be their bond is broken or parole is broken. Unfortunately that happens a little bit.”
But she said there were young people out there trying to break the cycle of bad behaviour and not follow in their family’s footsteps.
Ms Scott said Headspace tried to get out into the community to help troubled youths – having identified Rutherford as a place that needs more community engagement and connections to young people.
For example, last year they paired with Compass Housing and Ability Links to create a mural on a house in Rutherford to deter graffiti.
“Teachers do an amazing job at that too particularly at Rutherford High – bringing services into the school to show them what is available,” she said.
“We hope that this year services can come together to offer something so that they’re engaged in a more positive way as opposed to having nothing to do, being a very vulnerable community and then just doing things that aren’t socially helpful.”
However, it’s not always that easy.
“It depends on their experience, if you never see any different you don’t know that life could be different.”
If you need help, contact:
Headspace Maitland (4931 1000)
Samaritans Youth Accommodation Maitland (4934 0800)