Abstract
The majority of the literature on homelessness conceptualizes it as an urban problem and a wide body of research exists that provides estimates of metropolitan street youth and qualitatively describes their experiences. Similar descriptions and population estimates are virtually absent for youth who experience rural homelessness despite the number of urban homeless youth with rural origins. Indeed, although some metropolitan literature does remark on rural youth homelessness, it comments only on its invisible nature. This exclusion has significant implications in that it marginalizes the rural homeless and hinders the development of social policy to address the issues this population faces. Drawing on existing literature on rural youth homelessness, discussions with service providers in a rural area and a small number of interviews with youth, this paper begins to explore key issues facing homeless rural youth, existing intervention options and recommendations for the development of service delivery systems.
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Notes
In comparing rural and urban homeless youth in the American Midwest, Thrane et al. (2006) found that rural youth who faced family physical abuse tended to delay leaving home. They suggest that this may be due to the more limited services available to rural youth.
While there are services for homeless adults in rural localities such as Fort Erie, commensurate services for young people are considerably more limited. Adult homeless models do not generally work well for youth, however, as stressed by the service providers we interviewed.
It should be noted that these larger communities of St.Catharines and Niagara Falls are not accessible from Fort Erie by public transportation.
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Service organizations and their funding sources
Service organization | Funding sources |
|---|---|
Niagara Youth and Child Services—Crisis Services | Provincial government |
Niagara Youth and Child Services—Outreach | Provincial government |
Niagara Regional Community Services | Regional and Provincial governments |
Family and Children’s Services, Niagara | Municipal and Provincial governments; donations |
Canadian Mental Health Association—Niagara Branch | Provincial government |
Housing Help Centre | Municipal and Provincial governments; United Way |
Community Health and Wellness | Municipal government |
Community Outreach program | Fundraising and lottery money |
Native Youth Centre | Federal and Provincial governments; private funds |
Local youth shelters | One funded through United Way, Community Foundations and service clubs; the other through donations, United Way, Federal government and private sources |
Out of the Cold (temporary shelter) | Charity |
Youth drop-in centre | Charity |
Program for teenage mothers through schools | Provincial funding |
Newcomers welcome centre | Charity |
Local boxing club | Privately owned |
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Skott-Myhre, H.A., Raby, R. & Nikolaou, J. Towards a Delivery System of Services for Rural Homeless Youth: A Literature Review and Case Study. Child Youth Care Forum 37, 87–102 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9052-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9052-8