SCOTLAND "STREETS AHEAD" IN PREVENTING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

Margaret Curran MSP, Minister for Social Justice will launch a new and innovative guide to leaving home and housing produced by the Scottish Council for Single Homeless.

The guide, Streets Ahead, was produced in partnership with the Scottish Youth Housing Network and comes in an innovative CD case format. The case contains 25 booklets on the key housing issues facing young people.

Streets Ahead doesn’t represent what older people think young people will respond to: the design, the content and style of writing has all been carefully checked out with young people themselves. To produce the guide, SCSH worked closely with young people with experience of housing crisis. Their work has resulted in a guide that is relevant and accessible to the target audience. These young ‘consultants’ will talk about their involvement and the difference they believe the guide can make at the launch. Young people from Braidhurst High, who are among the first to use the new guide, will also be on hand.

The event will focus on the issues faced by all young people undertaking the transition to independent living, and how Streets Ahead can make this difficult change that little bit easier. And, for the most vulnerable, Streets Ahead has an important role to play in steering them away from or out of crisis, such as homelessness.

Praise for Streets Ahead…

Margaret Curran, MSP and Minister for Social Justice comments:

"Streets Ahead is an excellent resource for local authorities to provide advice and assistance to young people leaving home. It is practical, useful and informative and is a good example of the contribution voluntary organisations can make in support of local authorities delivering increased and improved advice and assistance to young homeless people, and those at risk of homelessness."

Learning and Teaching Scotland welcomes the guide saying,

"Learning and Teaching Scotland welcomes publication of Streets Ahead as a positive contribution to education for citizenship. This new resource will help young people in Scotland greatly in making informed choices about the challenging issues they face in moving on in life from school and in leaving home."

SCSH Director, Robert Aldridge comments:

"SCSH has been at the forefront of Leaving Home education in Scotland for a number of years. We are delighted with the guide being launched today and believe it will make a real difference to the lives of many young Scots."

Notes

1. Scottish Council for Single Homeless (SCSH) is the national membership body for organisations and individuals tackling homelessness.
2. The Scottish Youth Housing Network is a national membership body which exists to promote good practice in youth housing policy and practice
3. Learning and Teaching Scotland is a national public body charged with providing advice, support, resources and staff development that enhance the quality of educational experiences with a view to improving attainment and achievement and promoting lifelong learning.