Number of under 16s sleeping rough ‘much larger than we’d first anticipated’
Young people are sleeping on the streets and in cars as a youth homelessness support service says the problem is getting worse.
Auckland-based Kick Back has released its first State of the Street report, which it says is an SOS to the government and community at large.
The report said 62 percent of young people turning to the organisation for help were under 19 years old.
Sixteen and 17 year olds made up 20 percent, and 17 percent were aged 15 or under.
Everyone in the homelessness sector told the Government that their revised thresholds for Emergency Housing would create a tsunami of homelessness.
Everyone in the homelessness sector said cutting $20million from food banks would make those homeless more desperate.
Everyone in the homelessness sector said cutting back on community outreach programmes for the homeless would mean those homeless had no access to off ramps via wrap around services.
Despite everyone telling them this, National did it all anyway resulting in an obscene spike in homelessness to the point their poverty, addiction and mental health issues explode shamefully across our streets in a way that embarrasses us in front of the Tourists.
So embarrassed are they by the realities of their policy cruelty they now put forward a solution to simply arrest the homeless.
Firstly, shouldn’t National, ACT and NZF voters be confronted with the grim reality of their social policies as they walk around?
Secondly, shouldn’t the Government be heavily, heavily, heavily criticised for promoting criminalisation of the poverty they themselves have manufactured?
Where does Chris Luxon, who is one of the richest Politicians in NZ, who got an $8000 rates reduction for his million dollar batch on Waiheke and who has personally profited $600 000 from flipping property after he changed the rules, that Chris Luxon, where does he get off arresting the homeless that he has created?
Merry Christmas – this year Santa has been mugged by WINZ and evicted by Kainga Ora.
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There has always been homeless kids/families…. irrespective of who is in power.
Martyn had numerous posts about homelessness and child poverty going up under Labour/St Jacinda
It’s a fact of life, and will never be eradicated.
Useless parents = miserable life for the kids.
Now if only the billions that maori Iwi’s have could be used to help their own people….too radical an Idea I know.
How about a maori welfare fund, funded by taxing the maori Iwi funds, so they are helping their people with the tax (currently tax free)
Or is that racist lol
(And I mean ALL areas should be taxed…churches also – Destiny as a big example, it is run as a business and should be taxed)