Time to accept our duty to assist youth

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/01/2025 (244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. That being the case, should the village not put a roof over the head of a child in need?

That’s the logic behind a proposal by Winnipeg housing advocates for the city to follow a Welsh-born “Duty to Assist” principle in combating youth homelessness. It’s an idea worthy of serious consideration.

Put into practice — Wales enshrined the principle in law with its 2014 Housing (Wales) Act — the Duty to Assist means local authorities bear responsibility for preventing youth homelessness. Specific to the plight of unhoused youth, it also means teachers and other professionals who work with students have an obligation to help students find housing when needed.

That responsibility goes beyond simply pointing a student in the direction of a service which might provide housing; the professionals helping the student must understand the referral process and guide the (consenting) student.

Guidance through the process is important, according to Winnipeg School Division trustee Betty Edel, who is also senior director of End Homelessness Winnipeg’s housing supports team. She says the current system is difficult to navigate and leads to long waits. Some efforts to find housing prove futile.

There are many fronts in the war on homelessness, one of which is keeping youth experiencing unstable housing situations from winding up in permanent homelessness. The consequences of homelessness on young minds are long-lasting: Edel’s team, in consulting with youth, found students struggling to find stable housing have difficulty focusing on school work, as well as dealing with personal challenges stemming from mental-health issues and trauma — the latter of which are no doubt exacerbated by the lack of a safe, stable place to stay.

Left unresolved, these issues effectively set students up for failure, and their situation is unlikely to improve.

The number of homeless youth is substantial: 22 per cent of Winnipeg’s unhoused population are under 24 years of age, according to the most recent street census data.

Advocates working close to the affected young people are keen to move forward on the idea — a follow-up meeting is planned for early this year between housing advocates and metro school division superintendents. That’s all well and good, but buy-in from the administrator of Manitoba’s education system — the provincial government — would be a big help.

Late last month, a spokesperson for Housing Minister Bernadette Smith “acknowledged the ‘vital role’ that community leaders play in shaping solutions to combat homelessness” (Advocates say schools should have duty to assist, Dec. 28), but the spokesperson made no specific mention of Duty to Assist.

The province would do well to move forward on the idea, and to partner with municipal governments on the issue, given the municipal responsibilities Duty to Assist lays out. Helping youth in need find stable, secure housing so they can focus on their education and other needs will have positive ripple effects for the rest of their lives, and put them in a better position to have a positive impact on their communities.

“If we say we want to end homelessness, we need to get upstream,” Edel told the Free Press.

That’s exactly right. The unhoused represent one of the most vulnerable groups in any given community, and young or underaged homeless are arguably even more vulnerable. Helping them escape perilous housing situations before their homelessness becomes an entrenched fact of life is something to which any compassionate society should devote energy.

It’s essential that when the time comes for that follow-up meeting on accepting a Duty to Assist, there are provincial and municipal officials at the table, too.