Why do people become homeless?

A comprehensive report on homelessness in Australia that highlights the need for not only crisis accommodation but early intervention and long-term care programs for vulnerable people has come as no surprise to Archdiocesan community service agencies Vinnies and CatholicCare.

The report – Ending Homelessness in Australia: An Evidence and Policy Deep Dive, released in February by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI), the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness and Neami National – identified a disproportionate level of chronic medical and mental health conditions among homeless people.

It also found the average period of homelessness was nearly four years and that many had experienced “long periods of lifetime vulnerability”, such as time in juvenile detention or out-of-home care.

These findings prompted a recommendation of five key actions to end homelessness. Apart from a national government-led strategy and more affordable housing, these included ongoing support for people entering permanent housing after long periods of homelessness, identifying people with risk factors for homelessness, and integrating supportive programs.

Vinnies’ Family Services Young Parents Coordinator, Adrian Cobb, said the organisation’s work covered all stages of homelessness, from supporting vulnerable youths and families, to providing crisis accommodation and ongoing outreach services.

He was hopeful that a proposed new ACT Government approach to commissioning, which focuses on partnering with non-government organisations, would lead to more effective provision of services that addressed all stages of homelessness.

Still in its consultation stage, the new process promised to be more “holistic and interactive”. “It can be a cliché to speak just about housing … this is also about implementing early intervention strategies,” Adrian said.

He said the proposed inclusion of people with “lived experience” in the planning, design and provision of services was promising. “Taking the perspective of people on the ground who have been, or are, homeless is a more comprehensive approach than we have seen before.”

He said homelessness was a growing problem in the Canberra region, fuelled by housing shortages (exacerbated by Covid) and rocketing rental costs.

Erin MacArthur, CatholicCare’s Director of Youth, Mental Health, Homelessness, Justice Programs and Family Services, also highlighted the ACT’s position at the top of the rental stress table in Australia and urged people to advocate for affordable housing by asking their local members to make it an electoral priority.

She said CatholicCare’s approach was to supplement its specialised housing programs with “a suite of services aimed at supporting those at risk of or experiencing homelessness”.

“Early intervention is critical for people to avoid long periods of homelessness,” Erin said, pointing to outreach programs such as CatholicCare’s Youth Housing Support Service, which works with young people to address problems that lead to unstable housing in the first instance.

However, while prevention was the ideal solution, “the complexities that lead to homelessness mean this is not always an option”.

“Many people who face homelessness have experienced complex issues including mental health, substance use, relationship breakdowns, sudden loss of income or connections to services and supports have broken down over time,” Erin said.

In these cases, services such as MINOSA (Men in Need of Support Accommodation) House and Axial Housing (which helps people who have been sleeping rough for a long time to move into secure accommodation) provided short- and long-term options.

She said CatholicCare’s approach aligned with the CSI report’s findings that identifying areas of vulnerability and providing ongoing support to people who have been housed but are in danger of ending up homeless again.

“An integral commitment to ending homelessness is to understand why people have become homeless in the first instance,” she said. “Often times, providing a home is only the first step in building a safety net so people can start to think what their needs are.”

Donations and other support for homelessness services in Canberra-Goulburn region can be made through Vinnies, via donate.vinnies.org.au/donation-hub, or CatholicCare, via catholiccare.cg.org.au/donation/