Melbourne City Mission calls for youth specific family violence response

The Andrews government is being urged to provide specialist support for young people experiencing family violence and homelessness.

Nearly every young person presenting to a homelessness service in Victoria has experienced family violence. Picture: iStock.

Nearly every young person presenting to a homelessness service in Victoria has experienced family violence while nearly half have been hospitalised as a result of mental health issues, according to new data from Melbourne City Mission.

Advocates have called on the state government to provide specialist family violence support for teenagers and young adults experiencing homelessness to stop them being “lumped in” with women and young children fleeing abusive relationships.

Nearly 90 per cent of 15 to 24 year olds presenting to MCM youth homelessness crisis centres have escaped or experienced violence in their family homes.

Young homeless people are often lumped into the women and children response.

About 40 per cent of young victim-survivors have been hospitalised because of mental health issues stemming from family violence, with some youth services reporting as many as four in five requiring mental health treatment.

Melbourne City Mission head of policy, advocacy and government relations Shorna Moore said the state’s family violence response must incorporate “youth focused interventions” which address the needs of individual young people.

“This includes the support required to escape violent homes, a safe place to stay that doesn’t involve putting a teenager alone in a motel room for the night and youth specific therapeutic responses to support them to recover,” Ms Moore said.

“We still don’t know the full picture when it comes to the relationship between experiencing family violence and youth suicide, but we know over 80 per cent of young victim-survivors in some of our programs had been hospitalised for mental ill-health. That should make clear that this is a problem that we can’t afford to delay fixing.”

Ms Moore said 15 to 24 year olds were often “lumped into the women and children response category” and treated as an extension of their parents.

“When the abuse is coming from a parent or sibling, this is a huge problem,” she said.

“Children and young people cannot be treated as one homogenous group. The developmental and support needs of a six year old are completely different to an 18-year-old who is escaping violence alone.”

Stephanie* was just 21-years-old when she fled her family home with her son after her brother became violent towards her.

Advocates want specialist family violence support for teenagers and young adults. Picture: iStock

Forced to couch surf for weeks, Stephanie said she often suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, and struggled to complete basic tasks like cooking and cleaning.

“I had to choose between staying at a youth homelessness refuge with my three month old or going back to a hostile and violent family home,” she said.

“I wasn’t referred to any specialist family violence support for young people.

“Young people who find themselves homeless often don’t have the life skills such as budgeting, cooking and cleaning and need this support.”

Louise Simms, who is an executive director at Victoria’s peak body for family violence services Safe and Equal, said there was a critical gap in responding to the unique needs of young victim-survivors and has called for greater investment in safe and affordable housing to help meet demand.

“Specialist family violence services are committed to supporting children and young people as victim survivors in their own right, but are already struggling to meet huge demand and aren’t resourced to provide the tailored supports that young people need and deserve,” Ms Simms said.

“Family violence can leave young people with an impossible choice: do they escape the abuse and face being homeless, or do they stay in an abusive home?”

A government spokeswoman said there was a range of state-funded accommodation options available to young people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence

“We’ve invested $50m through the Youth Housing Capital Grants program for 10 projects to build more accommodation for people aged 16-24 at risk of or experiencing homelessness," she said.

“This accommodation includes integrated education, employment and other support services to help ensure young Victorians have a strong foundation to build their future.”

*The Herald Sun has chosen not to use Stephanie’s full name for safety reasons.