It is claimed that child protection services have told homeless children in Canberra to “suck it up and go home” or are turned away from crisis accommodation because they are too young to be granted access.
19-year-old Mike says he was denied access to crisis accomodation for homeless youth when he was 15 years old because he was younger than 16 and Child and Youth Protection Services told him they would not help “because it wasn’t the worst circumstances in the world”.
Debbie Noble-Carr came across numerous stories similar to Mike’s when compiling a report on child homelessness for the Australian Capital Territory Government.
“About half of the children we spoke to ended up having to spend time on the streets because they have run out of options and they simply had nowhere to go,” said Dr Noble-Carr.
Executive director of the A.C.T Youth Coalition, Dr Justin Barker, said he has called on the A.C.T Government to establish temporary residential care dedicated to children, providing respite while they worked towards safely reintegrating into the family home.