Tuesday 24 October 2017

The Sustainability of the Youth Foyer Model: A Comparison of the UK and Australia

an article by Adam Steen (Charles Sturt University, Australia) and David MacKenzie (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia) published in Social Policy and Society Volume 16 Issue 3 (July 2017)

Abstract

The youth foyer model was designed to provide a package of support, including accommodation to homeless or at-risk young people, based on participation in education, training and/or employment as a supported transition to independent living and a sustainable livelihood.

Commencing in the early 1990s, the UK has developed a large number of foyers while Australia is a relative newcomer to this kind of supportive youth housing.

Unlike in the UK, existing and proposed Australian foyer income generated from current benefits and subsidies is not sufficient to cover the cost of support.

We highlight the need for an extensible source of funding specifically for supportive housing for homeless and at-risk youth in order to ensure the financial sustainability and therefore replicability of the foyer model in Australia.

We also discuss some issues relating to the translation of the model from one national context to another.


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