The Social Planning, Policy, and Program Administration in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo has released a new report entitledPromising Principles and Practices in Housing Options for Youth Experiencing Homelessness in Waterloo Region.

The purpose of the report was to investigate current youth-specific services and housing options for youth 12 to 24 years of age experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region. The report summarizes six promising principles and practices for service providers to reference and consider in the development of new programs or for improving current programs.

The research strongly indicates that strategies and programs that work well with youth at-risk of or experiencing homelessness are "youth-specific," tailored to meet the unique developmental changes and needs during this life stage.

The recommendations take into consideration current research, local strengths, gaps and priorities, guided by the following principles:

• Plan to end homelessness through a focus on building and maintaining housing stability.
• While there is a need for emergency shelter services, use resources to strengthen existing services, rather than investing resources to create new emergency shelters.
• Adopt a "Housing First" approach for people experiencing homelessness: Consider housing as the top priority rather than services to address any pre-existing issues.
• Build greater capacity in longer term housing stability programs; and
• Tailor approaches to degrees of homelessness; focus initial efforts on ending persistent homelessness.

The recommendations include strategies that address the following areas:

1. Provide a continuum of accessible supports
2. Establishing trusting relationships with youth
3. Adopting a low demand approach to housing stability programs
4. Linking education, income and housing supports
5. Providing opportunities for youth engagement
6. Promoting collaboration between agencies

In addition to the report, the Members of the Youth Housing Coordinating Group (YHSCG) is creating a resource guide of youth-specific services for youth experiencing homelessness in the region. The guide will help in their plan to strengthen existing membership and increase collaboration with appropriate agencies within and outside of the housing stability system.