More than 27,000 Australian young people experience homelessness each year, sleeping rough without a safe or secure place to call home.
CEO of Kids Under Cover Jo Swift said homeless children were displaced through no fault of their own, often due to family conflict, overcrowding, or poor housing conditions.
“If we don't get in early, we know that homelessness can become a trajectory for life because many homeless adults have had their first experience as a child or young person,” Ms Swift said.
The Kids Under Cover project provides early intervention to prevent young people from becoming homeless in the first place, by installing studio apartments in the backyards of family homes, giving young people their own space to sleep, study and provide respite from family conflict, while also teaching them a level of independence.
Ms Swift said providing long-term studio apartment accommodation within the support of the family unit kept the young person connected to their local communities, able to continue to attend school, and participate in their sporting clubs.
While this project is helping many children, the current housing crisis is putting many young people at risk, unable to find affordable housing, so keeping these kids at home is going a long way to keeping them safe.
But Ms Swift said there was still a long way to go to meet the current demand for these studios.
Based on recent figures, more than 850 young people and their families are currently in urgent need of support, with demand much higher in regional and rural areas.
Victorian government funding will provide $6.5 million for 95 new portable studios specifically for young people in contact with the Youth Justice system to support their rehabilitation.
Minister for Youth Justice Natalie Hutchins said: "These studios mean young people who may otherwise have faced homelessness are able to stay close to loved ones and caregivers, but also have their independence".
The Kids Under Cover program has installed 16 studio apartments in Mildura and Swan Hill with more being planned, providing 22 local kids with a safe place to live, who would otherwise have been displaced somewhere, possibly outside their community simply to get accommodation.
