YOUNG STREET CHILDREN AT RISK OF BECOMING DRUG ADDICTS, EXPERTS WARN

CHILDREN as young as 12 years of age are sleeping rough on streets and are
in danger of becoming drug addicts, experts warned yesterday.

An initiative to discourage young people sleeping rough from becoming
involved in drug abuse received high praise from President Mary McAleese
yesterday.

The Cork Simon Community Youth Homeless Drug Prevention was established
late last year to provide early intervention through intensive outreach.

Almost one fifth of the 1,094 people using Cork Simon Community's emergency
shelter last year were under the age of 25.

"Young people, some as young as 12 and 13, are sleeping rough in the city,
but where is there to send a young person who comes to the shelter at 3am,
tired and scared?

"To date this problem has not been recognised and the response has not been
adequate, but we hope this initiative will make a real difference," said
project co ordinator, James Boyd.

President McAleese said the project was another example of how Simon was
responding to the ever changing face of homelessness in Ireland, when she
officially launched it yesterday.

"A very real test of what type of society we want to hand on to our
children lies in the decisions we make now to tackle problems such as
poverty, homelessness and the despair of drug addiction. This generation
has the resource, the insight and the power to eliminate inequality and
exclusion," she said.

"This project offers hope that, through early intervention, an alternative
life can be provided for young people, before the cycle of homelessness and
addiction takes hold."