A study comissioned by Aviva Canada on youth housing co-ops in India, Italy and Canada revealed a greater need to address the transitional age problems that occur when one becomes too old for youth services, but does not yet have the skills to live independently.
YouthLink, a Scarborough-based non-profit that has four co-op houses (three with live-in mentors) in Toronto dedicated to helping vulnerable youth aged 16-21 pursue their goals and learn independence, supported the study. Youth spoke candidly and anonymous with a researcher outlining their struggles to gain confidence and overcome obstacles such as childhood trauma, family problems, education, addiction and mental health.
"It was encouraging to us because the youth were using and benefiting from our program and it gave us some feedback that was more reliable because it was obtained by a neutral third party," says Katina Watson, the director of counselling, community and residential programs at YouthLink.
Youth participating in the co-op housing program are required to pay monthly rent, a skill often obtained through the program itself. It generally takes about a year for an individual to become independent enough to support his or herself. But many worry what will happen when they're 18 or 21 (depending on the program) and no longer eligible to live in youth co-op housing.
"This is a very common issue in our field. We call it a transitional age problem," Watson says. "We work hard to engage them and to keep them so they can build strength in cooperative living, managing schools and routines, and their own self identity, but because we are a service we have to balance that with serving other needy youth. We don't encourage them to stay past the point where they're capable of true independent living."
The study wraps with five recommendations for policy makers and identifies that more resources are needed in helping youth transition out of these programs.
The full report can be read
here.
Writer: Sheena Lyonnais
Source: Katina Watson, Director of Counselling, Community and Residential Programs, YouthLink