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NO ONE'S HOME
Health and Housing:
Identifying the Links, Gaps, and Solutions
for women and children experiencing homelessness in the
Barwon Region
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This important report highlights the serious nature of
homelessness in the Barwon Region and the effects of exclusion from
having safe, secure and affordable housing on both women and children.
It is expected that all members of our society are
able to enjoy the sanctuary of having a home: a place to sleep, build
relationships and be free from harm. It is also deemed necessary in
healthy communities that its members have access to health services,
safety and protection, personal support and housing and yet for many
this is not their reality.
Regrettably, many children who experience homelessness
also miss out on what is now accepted as their intrinsic right to
shelter, safety, food, health care and education. |
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This report calls on Governments, policy makers and
service providers to act quickly to address this inequity and make a
supreme effort to reduce the effects of homelessness for women and
children in the Barwon Region.
The key findings of this research are:
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The demand for crisis and short-term accommodation for
women and women with children, in the Barwon Region, far exceeds the
capacity of the current service system to respond.
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The current medical, dental and personal health care
system within the Barwon Region does not adequately support the unique
needs and requirements of women and children who are experiencing
homelessness.
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Young single women and young women alone with children
present as the group least likely to obtain access to crisis or short
term accommodation.
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Family violence is the main reason women experience
homelessness and is a major causative factor of the perpetuation of
homelessness when accommodation and support is not provided at the
instant of need. Women do not regularly seek police and legal
interventions.
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Children who experience the cycle of homelessness, with
its circuitous characteristics, suffer emotional, physical and
psychological hurt; they are denied their basic rights to shelter, food,
education, safety and good health.
This research recommends:
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That the Government prioritise immediate increases in
the supply of crisis or short-term accommodation for women and children
in the Barwon Region.
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That the Government increase public housing stock in the
Barwon Region.
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That the Government prioritise and consider how health
services are delivered effectively to women and children who experience
homelessness.
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That additional financial resources be provided to
support children who experience homelessness by increasing funding to
SAAP specialist children worker positions to facilitate pathways to education, health and social opportunities.
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That due consideration is given to developing innovative
models for delivering legal advice and representation for matters of
debt, family violence and family law, for women who experience
homelessness.
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That educators consider strategies to improve education
and support to children experiencing homelessness.
For more information, please contact:
Janelle Cribb, Coordinator
The Salvation Army Kardinia Women's Services
Phone: (03) 5241 9149
Email:
Major Lawrence Parks, Director
The Salvation Army Kardinia Network
Phone: (03) 5243 3364
Mobile: 0419 009 847 |
