The Housing First for Young People Leaving Care program (Housing First) provides housing and wrap around case work support to assist a gradual transition from care.
Housing First includes:
- housing for at least 2 years
- case work support
- tenancy support
- management of accommodation (such as collecting rent and organising maintenance); and
- brokerage for Aboriginal young people.
Housing First will:
- add to existing supports like the Better Futures and Home Stretch programs
- help young people leave care with the support they need
Housing First supports
young people who are aged from 16 years and 6 months to 17 years and 6 months at the time of referral and who are:
- leaving residential care and who are on, or were on, an eligible order on or after their 16th birthday. Residential care includes lead tenant arrangements.
- leaving a custodial facility and who have been on an eligible order and in care on or after their 16th birthday
- leaving or have left residential, kinship, foster or permanent care, and are at immediate risk of homelessness within 6 months of leaving care, and who are, or were on, an eligible order on or after their 16th birthday.
Eligible order means:
- Long term care order
- Care by Secretary order
- Permanent care order
- Family reunification order.
Costs with participating in the program
Young people taking part in the program will need to pay rent. Their case work will explain the cost of them to arrange payments.
By paying rent, young people will have a rental history. This will help them to find other housing when they finish with the program.
Young people will also need to pay a fee to take part in the program. The fee can come from the young person’s Home Stretch allowance. Their case worker can explain how this will work.
Case work support
Housing first participants receive tailored support from their Housing First case worker.
This is in addition to other existing supports such as:
- Targeted Care Packages
- Better Futures and Home Stretch programs
- National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Aboriginal young people
There is a dedicated number of places for Aboriginal young people in the program.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations will support Aboriginal young people who access the Housing First program.
Aboriginal young people will be able to access flexible funding, which will help them to:
- access culturally safe services
- connect or reconnect to the community
- make decisions and reach their goals.
Information for service providers
To help deliver the program, resources are available for service providers.
- Housing First or Young People Leaving Care - Operations Manual (Word)
- In-reach checklist for case workers (Word)
- Information for young people on the rental agreement (Word)
- Housing First Support Plan template (Word)
Contact
If you have any questions, please email the Housing First project team at betterfuturescentral@dffh.vic.gov.au.