Preventing homelessness in young people
Young people aged 16 and 17 can sometimes get into situations where they feel it is no longer possible for them to live at home. Or their housing arrangements don’t work for them any more. Cornwall Council and Housing Options work together to help these young people. We have a plan that sets out how we do this.
Our aim is for the young person to live with family, where possible. We will work to help them stay at home, or go back home, if we can. We can find alternative accommodation if this isn’t possible.
When we are told about a homeless young person, we will do a joint assessment with Housing Options.
If Housing Options hears about the young person first they will:
Check to see if there are any safeguarding concerns
If there aren’t, they will try and get consent from a parent/guardian to work with the young person
If they can’t get parent/guardian consent, they will get consent from the young person
Then they will refer to the Multi Agency Referral Unit (MARU)
If we hear about the young person first, the MARU, Housing Options and Social Care will agree what to do, on the same day that we hear about the young person.
At Gweres tus Yowynk, we have a Principal Social Worker and three Homelessness Support Workers. Their job is to help prevent 16 and 17 year olds from becoming homeless. They work directly with young people who are at risk of homelessness, or are homeless. They will make sure that these young people get the help they need, from the Council and Cornwall Housing Ltd.