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Safe houses for 13 to 15 year old homeless, runaway children — who were disproportionately aboriginal — didn’t always have a 100 percent occupancy rate. So, for an uncaring B.C. Liberal government more interested in saving money than saving lives, they were an easy target.
The houses were closed last month.
The Underage Youth Safe House Project, initially funded by the previous New Democratic government, was a voluntary short-term programme for street involved, sexually exploited Vancouver youth. Over the three years the programme existed, the safe house project provided safe haven for hundreds of at-risk children, offering constructive alternatives to these children in crisis, in non-judgmental surroundings.
Most of the traumatized youth who arrived at the doors of the safe houses were in a state of crisis, resulting from years of exposure to abuse, exploitation, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, and disease. The majority of these early teens were also dealing with feelings of suicidal ideation.
Most of the hundreds of kids who passed through the safe houses — the vast majority of whom were re-united with their families or returned to their foster families or group homes — were also struggling with serious emotional issues related to family member loss, abuse histories, and untreated psychiatric issues. The majority also had access to both soft and hard drugs and were at severe risk of becoming drug dependent.
Even as former residents spoke out against the cuts, the government stood fast on their plans to close the houses. In a recent Vancouver Courier column, Allen Garr wrote about the impact of the closures.
