SIMON TRIES TO OPEN DOORS FOR YOUNG HOMELESS

IMAGINE ... you're 15. You left home because you couldn't stick the sexual
abuse anymore. You didn't know where to go for help, so you started
sleeping rough.

You're so scared of being attacked that you don't get any rest. Someone
told you that you might be able to get a hostel bed if you go to a garda
station, but you're worried they might send you home to your father.

Your savings run out, so you start begging to get money for food. You feel
so lonely and depressed that you're tempted to start taking the drugs that
are being offered to you. Anything to block out the pain.

For many young people, this scenario isn't just a figment of their
imagination. It's reality. Cork Simon Community, however, is trying to turn
this reality around with its new Youth Homeless Drugs Prevention Project.

The project is designed to help homeless young people under the age of 26
to access services relevant to their needs relating to homelessness and
drug use. It also aims to gauge the extent of the problem in Cork.

The project was established in September 1999 in response to the dramatic
increase in the number of young people becoming homeless and sleeping rough
in Cork.

In 1999, 20% of the 1,094 people who stayed at the Cork Simon shelter were
under 25 years of age. "Young people, some as young as 12 and 13, are
sleeping rough in the city," reports James Boyd, project co-ordinator. "To
date, this problem has not been recognised and the response has not been
adequate."

Young people usually become homeless due to a breakdown in the family, in
contrast to older people, who become homeless for a wider variety of reasons.

"Many (young people) will develop a drug or alcohol addiction after they
become homeless," says Boyd, explaining that homeless young people use
drugs and alcohol to escape the unhappiness of their lives." It's rarely
for recreation. It's self-medication."

Youth homelessness is a significant problem in urban centres, where young
homeless people from around the country tend to gravitate. A survey by the
Economic and Social Research Institute estimated that 28B75% of the 2,900
people who were homeless in the Dublin region at the end of March 1999 were
25 years of age or less.

In 1998 the percentage of people under 25 who stayed at the Cork Simon's
emergency shelter rose from 6% to 22%. This figure doesn't include children
as young as 14 who were contacted by the nightly soup-run.

The problem of youth homelessness isn't as obvious in Cork as it is in
Dublin. "In Dublin you go to seven or eight areas and find homeless young
people," notes Boyd. "In Cork you have difficulty finding people." Homeless
young people tend to hide in places like squats and derelict buildings on
the outskirts of Cork, rather than sleep in city centre doorways and other
exposed areas.

They hide to avoid the gardai, who are more likely to arrest them for
drinking on the streets than in Dublin. (Alcohol tends to be the most
common drug amongst homeless young people in Cork.) The other reason is
pride." Young people don't want to be stigmatised," explains Boyd.

As of June, the project's outreach team had met 15 young people over the
preceding three-to-four months. Sixty-four young people used the project's
11am to 2pm drop-in service at the shelter.

Boyd sees these numbers as not being indicative of the full extent of the
problem because young people are less likely to come to Simon.
Traditionally, the Simon Community has been perceived as a service for
older homeless people.

Homeless young people are more likely to gravitate to Dublin than to Cork
because there are more services in place. Until the establishment of this
new project, there was no outreach service for homeless people in Cork
other than Cork Simon's soup run. Cork only has a Monday to Friday 9-5
statutory service for homeless children unlike Dublin which has a 24-hour
service.

Dublin may have more services in place, but it isn't exactly heaven for
homeless youth. The recent Report of the Forum on Youth Homelessness
slammed the current system in Dublin for, among other things, poor
co-ordination of services and a mismatch of services required by young
people and those available to them.

Boyd has made contact with a large number of external services to create
and develop a network of services for homeless youth. "We provide a
detailed and comprehensive needs assessment of all areas of their lives,
not just drugs," he says. We then try to agree with the young person on a
way forward." Based on his experiences, Boyd reveals that services for
people experiencing homelessness are very poor in Cork. "We need flexible,
alternative services," he says.

The data collected through the project's activities will be used to
complete a research document. Boyd hopes that this document, combined with
project evaluation reports completed by University College Cork, will
provide Cork Simon, Cork Corporation, the Southern Health Board, and other
agencies with information to help them respond to Cork's young homeless
population.

Imagine ... when you were 15, you lived on the streets for a short time.
Luckily, you met an outreach worker who helped you link into the services
that you needed. It was a hard slog, but now you're back on track.