Solutions to Youth Homelessness

Abstract

The solutions that are proposed to the problem of youth homelessness are varied. This is to be expected since the nature of the solution will depend on how youth homelessness is interpreted and by whom. We have seen throughout the book that different groups and individuals can perceive the same social issue in quite different ways, and thus it is not surprising that solutions should vary. For example, the solution offered will be closely linked with the explanation given, and in Chapter 3 we considered the variety of these explanations. At that stage, we did not link particular explanations with the different categories of people involved. In this chapter, though, we attempt to look more closely at how different groups perceive the solutions to youth homelessness. In particular, we address three broad questions:

• How do homelessness agencies perceive the solutions to youth homelessness?

• How do politicians perceive the solutions to youth homelessness?

• How do young homeless people perceive the solutions to youth homelessness?