A place to call home

CENTRAL -

On any given day in the Central Region there are more than 30 youth homeless due to maltreatment or neglect.
According to Sara Dawe, a social worker with the Bridging Program, homeless in this context means the youth in question have no permanent place of residence whatsoever.
She said there is an urgent need to find people who will open their homes to youth between the ages of 16-18. Youth up to age 21 are included if they have gone through the Foster Care program or are a youth partaking in any kind of post-secondary education.
"These youth come into our program because they are living in an environment that is not suitable for them due to various reasons, most often due to maltreatment or neglect," said Ms. Dawe.
Ms. Dawe explained that the Bridging Program, which falls under the umbrella of Child, Youth and Family Services, offers youth a holistic, supportive team approach to assist them. Youth come forward on a voluntary basis to be part of the program.
Ms. Dawe's role in the Bridging Program is to recruit and secure housing for youth. Since recruitment efforts began in June of last year five households have signed on and opened their homes to a youth who needs their assistance. That means that on any given day there are still around 25 youth who don't have a place to call home.
"These youth are bouncing from home to home, from couch to couch with no stable environment," she explained. "So the whole point is for us to be able to provide them with this home, family-like, stable environment where the structure is there and they are living in a positive environment which in the past they weren't living in."
The five homes available to youth are currently located in Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, Appleton, Middle Arm and Springdale. There are no homes that have signed on anywhere within The Pilot coverage area, yet Ms. Dawe said there are youth from these communities who are homeless right now. Essentially they have nowhere to go.
When asked if Ms. Dawe thinks people realize this situation exists she said, "I look at it as very hidden. Sometimes people don't realize there is such a need for this in their very own backyard. We have youth all over the Central Region who really need these home environments. Unfortunately, where people don't realize there is the need, then people aren't coming forward."
Ms. Dawe hopes people will come forward in an effort to provide a safe, stable environment for local youth who need it. If the homes are not available here for them, they have to be accommodated outside of their own community (if the homes were available).
"Right now, if we only have one home in each area and there's no home in that area then yes, they would have to leave," said Ms. Dawe. "Being a teenager is hard enough as it is.
"Here they have their school, friends and supports in that community and so not only are they dealing with maltreatment or neglect or a lack of a structured home, they would then have to leave everything that they know for us to be able to place them in a home because we would have none in their area. Ideally our goal is to have, for example, a handful of homes in the Gander area where we would be able to match a youth from there with a home that is most suitable for them."

Finding a home
The Bridging Program team includes Ms. Dawe who works with caregivers, another social worker who works with the youth for whatever counseling needs they may have and two life skills coaches.
This housing situation isn't considered Foster Care, which is for children from birth to age 16. As with Foster Care though, what caregivers offer the youth in the Bridging Program is essential to their wellbeing.
Ms. Dawe said in the past there were a lot of placement breakdowns in Youth Services, mainly because the caregivers didn't feel that they were being supported while a youth was being placed in their home. That is where the Bridging Program is also different.
"We expect the caregivers to speak with us and be involved with us on an ongoing basis and because we expect that we offer an enhanced rate as well," she said. "As part of this program we developed education in-services for the caregivers to be able to attend.
"For example, if you had a youth in a home that might have issues with self-esteem and you wanted some additional knowledge on how to work with or assist the youth, we would develop an entire in-service around that that we would offer to all the caregivers. Generally if you have one caregiver who would like more information on this you have multiple, so we would offer this. Because we offer this and would like for them to participate, this is why we offer additional money than the basic lodging rate."
To become a caregiver potential households would contact Ms. Dawe. She would visit their home to complete an application that includes three reference checks to ensure a clear police check, court check and Child, Youth and Family Services check to ensure that there were no child protection issues in the past.
One requirement for a placement is for the youth the have their own bedroom. The expectation of the caregivers is to incorporate the youth into their family and just basically to provide them with a stable, family-oriented safe environment.
As for the time commitment from the caregivers, that can vary.
"Sometimes people take a youth into their home and their situation changes and they aren't able to have a youth in their home anymore," said Ms. Dawe. "It really depends on the caregivers, but the longer they can provide a stable environment the better.
"It's not about finding them a house, it's about finding them a home."
Right now the Bridging Program is seeking permanent caregivers, but they are also looking for short-term emergency placements. For example, Ms. Dawe said if there is a placement breakdown on a Friday afternoon and they are looking for a youth to be able to stay in someone's home for a weekend - that would be considered for emergency placement.
Ms. Dawe is spreading the word about the need for caregivers wherever she can. She has found a pattern repeating itself in the people who come forth and express an interest in learning more about opening their home to a youth in need.
"They are people with children of their own," she said. "Every single one of the homes we have now, they (caregivers) have their own biological children.
"They are the people that can relate to this, thinking, 'Oh my goodness. What if my child was on the street or bouncing from couch to couch.' They can't imagine that happening to their own child so they are willing to take in another child."
Ms. Dawe said from the placements that have already been made the experience is a positive one for both the youth and the caregiver. She said for caregivers, taking a youth into their home is something that becomes special in their lives.
"If someone comes from an unstructured environment and you take a youth into your home, you get to see those little successes that they have," she said. "Providing them with a stable environment just makes it completely worthwhile."
Ms. Dawe noted that sometimes there is a stigma attached to the youth who need to avail of the services of a caregiver.
"A lot of people perceive it that these are youth that are involved with the corrections system or they have addictions issues," she said. "Nine chances out of 10 it's usually youth that are living in this unstable environments and they are being maltreated and if you look at it statistically speaking, there is very little overlap of the corrections system and the youth services system.
"If you look at adults who are homeless in Newfoundland right now and speak to them and find out when it was that their homelessness began, it's usually between 16-18 years old. So the need is critical for these youth to have this now. "
Ms. Dawe encourages anyone who would like to learn more about the Bridging Program to contact her at (709) 651-6504. By making the call a potential caregiver is not committed to the program. Ms. Dawe can meet with you and have a casual conservation about what is involved so everyone is clear of the expectations and requirements.
In closing Ms. Dawe reiterated the importance of finding caregivers.
"The need is very, very urgent," she said. "As everyone can relate to, being a teenager is hard enough as it is, especially now in today's society and then put on top of that they are living in these unstructured environments and bouncing from house to house to house. That affects every part of their life."