End Youth Homelessness Cymru’s (EYHC) latest report, ‘Don’t let me fall through the cracks: Homelessness amongst Care-Experienced Young People in Wales’, has today been published, making thirteen key recommendations to ensure that young people are given effective early-intervention support to reduce their risk of homelessness.
NYAS Cymru works with partners across the sector to ensure that care-experienced young people do not face homelessness as they move towards independence. End Youth Homelessness Cymru (EYHC) is a national coalition led by Llamau that aims to end youth homelessness within the next ten years, a priority shared by NYAS. Sharon Lovell, Chief Executive of NYAS Cymru chairs the sub-group to end youth homelessness for care-experienced children and young people.
Care-experienced young people are more likely than their peers to find themselves homeless or living in vulnerable housing, and without support from family, young care leavers can often struggle to adapt to independent living. Research has highlighted that one in three (33%) care-experienced young people became homeless in the first two years of leaving care. One in four (25%) homeless people have also been in care at some point in their lives. It is crucial that the government upholds its corporate parenting duty to care leavers and acts now to ensure they do not face homelessness.
Sharon Lovell, NYAS Cymru CEO adds, “It is not acceptable that any care experienced young person has a pavement for a pillow, it is time to act, time to end youth homelessness.”