Youth Initiative

The Program provides support to young people aged 16 - 17 years, who are leaving SYFS Out Of Home Care (OoHC - Permanency Support Program) and vulnerable to homelessness. The program expands on the current aftercare service by offering a suite of interventions aimed at bridging the gap between OoHC support and independent living. These interventions target and build the long-term capacity and resilience of young people with the aim to permanently divert them from the homelessness service system.

The Program provides:

• Support and mentoring to assist the Young Person to establish networks and manage after care support and services.
• Mentoring in the form of education and employment support with the goal to build financial capacity and growth in opportunity. The support is aimed at increasing the young person's educational attainment and employment outcomes, so at their exit from the Initiative the young person can maintain their housing and independent living.
• Transitional support to young people in the program locations to build their capacity to establish and maintain long-term accommodation. This transitional support will be provided for up to the length of the Program.

The Program will be delivered through the Southeast Region of NSW (Illawarra, Shoalhaven/ South Coast and Southern Tablelands/Monaro)

The Youth Initiative is funded by the NSW Government through the Permanency Support Program by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice