Feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness permeated the pages of a special report on youth homelessness published Wednesday by Alberta’s Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.
“Tell people we’re not bad kids,” said one unidentified 17-year-old youth in the report, titled A Place to Belong — A Special Report on Youth Homelessness in Alberta, which was released Wednesday.
“We just didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate (OCYA) is an independent office of the Alberta Legislature, tasked with representing the rights, interests and viewpoints of the province’s young people.
The office sought stories from 156 people between the ages of 12 to 24 who were, or had been, unhoused at some point in their lives.
Those stories have prompted the office to call for improved measures to prevent youth from becoming homeless, and faster intervention to prevent youth becoming entrenched in homelessness.