Preventing youth homelessness
Youth homelessness prevention encompasses everything that has happened in a young person's life (individual or external factors) before they experience homelessness or housing instability. It's the sum of all the factors that led them to homelessness, and these factors must be taken into account or implemented in young people's lives to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors that were already present before they became homeless.
- Youth+ Committee
Our areas of action
The causes and realities of youth homelessness differ from those of adult homelessness. Young people are sometimes former wards of the child protection system, while others come from dysfunctional families. They experience poverty and discrimination. Many have mental health or addiction problems and do not receive the necessary support.
Young people living in precarious or unstable housing do not have the same trajectories as homeless adults because they do not have as much life experience, easy access to a stable and constant income, and more broadly they do not always have the support networks necessary for a transition to adulthood.
The Coalition Jeunes+ therefore focuses its actions in preventing youth homelessness on 5 key areas.
Axis 1: Influencing policies and transforming systems that contribute to homelessness and prevention
The Coalition Jeunes+ works to ensure that policies contribute to the prevention of youth homelessness. We also support the development and implementation of promising practices.
Axis 2: Youth Mobilization
The Coalition Jeunes+ encourages youth participation so that young people can contribute to prevention efforts. We develop actions that are aligned with young people’s needs.
“No action about us without us”
Axis 3: Expansion of the Coalition and intersectoral collaboration
The Coalition Jeunes+ continuously seeks to diversify the sectors involved and to increase the engagement of stakeholders and decision-makers with the Coalition Jeunes+ and its actions.
Axis 4: Raising awareness of homelessness prevention among the general public and decision-makers
The Coalition Jeunes+ is committed to increasing young people’s knowledge of their rights and of the causes and realities of homelessness. We actively work to reduce prejudice within the general population regarding diversity, as well as the stigmatization and discrimination faced by young people based on racism, colonialism, sexism, heterosexism, cisnormativity, social profiling, and more.
Axis 5: Research, innovation and knowledge mobilization
The Coalition Jeunes+ is involved in research projects and organizes activities related to knowledge sharing. We participate in pilot projects. We also monitor publications and work related to youth homelessness.