The 'hidden' homeless: Alarming child and youth homelessness in Auckland

Saturday, 19 October 2019

Tyson Brown became homeless at 13 - sleeping on concrete benches or in bushes.

Murdered teenager Dimetrius Pairama, who was tortured and killed in April 2018, was one of Auckland's homeless youth.

She had twice escaped from Oranga Tamariki placements and fled to the streets.

And for every Dimetrius there are thousands of other homeless children and teenagers in the same situation, alone on the streets and in danger, experts say.

Dimetrius Pairama's body was discovered wrapped in sheets and rubbish bags and hidden in a steel barrel in July 2018. At the time of her death, she was one of Auckland's homeless.

On the street, young people are exposed to rape, violence, criminal activity, substance abuse and prostitution.

* On our doorstep: The story of Auckland's homeless youth

* Dimetrius Pairama remembered as a 'bubbly' girl who loved to sing

* Behind the scenes of Auckland's Homeless Count

* Many are one step away from homelessness**

Despite this, there is no real structure in place to help already homeless children and youth, experts say.

NO INFRASTRUCTURE

Two organisations, VisionWest and LifeWise, are working in the youth homeless space but are frustrated with the lack of structure.

VisonWest's head of community services, Brook Turner says for young people who aren't in the care system, there is nowhere for them to go.

A photo of this homeless community included several under 18s.

'Despite the fact that Visionwest has 350 houses, and four housing programmes – if I have a 15-year-old that needs a house, I can't home then,' he says.

Transitional housing is unsafe because it exposes youth to older adults and there is a waiting list on beds, Turner says.

'There is no financial model for under-18 homeless and it's unclear where this group sits on the social housing register.

'The bottom line is, there is no adequate youth housing social infrastructure, no process for them to find adequate shelter and no tailored model for them,' he says.

However, the complexity of homelessness means there is no one group that can be held accountable, Lifewise's chief executive Moira Lawler says.

'That's why some of the most successful initiatives are collaborative efforts.'

HIDDEN HOMELESS

Another roadblock to change is a lack of current or accurate statistics. This is largely due to the fact that homeless youth are more difficult to count than adult homeless people.

Lifewise's Aaron Hendry refers to them as 'hidden' homeless, because young people blend in with the population, choosing not to identify themselves as homeless and frequently cycling between family, friends, transitional housing and the street.

This is true of Dimetrius, who was well known in the homeless community as a visiting transient.

Auckland City Mission employee, Grayson Goffe came to know Dimetrius after she turned up with a group of young people for meals and help. On at least one occasion she slept on the pavement outside.

On the night before her death, Dimetrius was roaming the city by herself before meeting two people, who would later go on to kill her.

Auckland's Homeless Count, released by Auckland Council in September 2018, offers the most recent statistics. On the night of the count, results showed 1300 children under 18 years old were in temporary accommodation, which was nearly half of the total number.

However, Hendry still feels these figures are an underestimation.

Turner from Visionwest agrees a lack of visibility is the biggest problem.

'No definitive numbers means no definitive problem, which means little pressure on policy makers and Government for change,' he says.

'Little time has been spent truly assessing the size of the need in the first place. We have very little housing choice for youth who are homeless, both in terms of volumes of beds and diverse responses.

'Youth are not just falling through the cracks of our social housing system. They are falling through the cracks in our thinking around homelessness altogether.'

ORANGA TAMARIKI

The Ministry of Social Development says it is incorrect to say there are no provisions for homeless youth, because it offers a Youth Payment for 16- to 17-year-olds.

Oranga Tamariki, also known as the Ministry for Children, says it has several programmes addressing the need for youth homelessness.

Engaging Challenging Youth (ECY) is a programme which focuses on helping 12- to 17-year-olds who had fallen through the gaps. Supervisor Elizabeth Copeland says there are currently 27 young people on the programme in Auckland.

However, the ECY team only deals with youth who have custody status with Oranga Tamariki. It doesn't include those never before known to the organisation.

For this, Oranga Tamariki relies on external partnerships.

Turner argues that, while organisations like Lifewise, Kahui Te Kaha, VisionWest and The Salvation Army provide pockets of support, the need far exceeds the response.

'What is needed is a comprehensive and tailored youth homelessness initiative that builds regional and national infrastructure, offering youth specific oriented housing with options to respond to diverse needs,' he says.