South Eastern Youth Homelessness Forum: Participant's Resource Handbook

Abstract

This document provides preparatory information for participants and is intended to give key information and highlight discussion points to assist the forum in its work. The National Youth Homelessness Strategy section is a prepared summaty of the initial Department of Health and Children document outlining Government's analysis of the situation and intentions regarding the roll out of the strategy. The Regional response is a prepated summary of the response made by the South Eastern Health Board, identifying its broad strategic proposals across the region. The ability to compare and learn from other regions can also be a useful reference point in sttategic design patticularly in identifying and overcoming barriers to strategic planning, Making Partnerships Work, is a summary of interviews commissioned for this forum, with two key people involved in different ways in their respective Youth Homelessness Strategies”. We asked the patticipants to give an honest account of their experience of planning their strategy, the difficulties they faced and any advice they might have to offer. It is intended that these references will provide the critical human dimension to structural and framework deliberations, which may ultimately determine whether any strategy will succeed. The selection of participants for the forum has also been a critical element in its planning, It is clear from the wide range of agencies, services and individuals involved directly and indirectly in dealing with young people who are homeless or at tisk of homelessness that the forum cannot accommodate full representation if it is to be a working forum. Participants have been selected on what they can contribute to the strategy from their own experience. However, it is recognised that it is important that perspectives from a broad range of agencies and between rural ateas and urban centres actoss the region contribute to the designing of the strategy. The list of participants attempts to teflect this balance. It is also assumed that participants inform their perspective by consulting with individuals, services and agencies who ate not directly involved in the forum. Arrangements will be made to ensure that the ongoing deliberations of the forum will be disseminated as widely as possible across the region.