The Child Care Act 1991 and Youth Homelessness: An Opportunity for Progress
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Author
Barnardos
National Campaign for the Homeless
Date
1992
Citation
Barnardos & National Campaign for the Homeless. (1992). The Child Care Act 1991 and Youth Homelessness: An Opportunity for Progress. https://knowledge.barnardos.ie/handle/20.500.13085/739
Abstract
The National Campaign for the Homeless, which is the umbrella body for organisations working with homeless people in Ireland, was formed almost ten years ago. One of the first things we did was carry out research into the numbers of young people homeless in Ireland. Of all the many categories of people who were homeless, young homeless people were the group which most urgently cried out for public attention. Our 1985 survey called Ireland’s Young Homeless found 800 young people homeless in Ireland cities, towns, and countryside. The Minister responsible for youth affairs came to the conference which launched the report, and declared that the government would confront the problem of youth homelessness head on. Seven years later, we are all still confronting the problem. Despite all the media attention, the court cases, all the earnest appeals to government to act, despite all the intense competition for the few thousands of pounds made available to house the young homeless, they are still there. What should be a tragic, but ultimately manageable and solvable human problem, has defied resolution.