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VANCOUVER – North Shore youth will benefit from annual funding of $125,000 that will assist with transition beds and support services, announced Tom Christensen, Minister of Children and Family Development.
The ministry will annually fund two transition housing beds co-located in the North Shore Youth Safe House. The ministry has long recognized that many youth, aged 16-18 years, require support services such as mediation, housing placements, job search guidance, medical referral and life skills counselling.
“Transition housing enhances safety and stability for vulnerable youth,” said Christensen. “This funding will help provide a safe and supportive environment where youth can meet their basic physical and social needs to effectively make positive changes into their adult lives.”
Transition beds are available for approximately six months to two years and are intended for those youth who are actively prepared to pursue a lifestyle change and require assistance transitioning to adulthood.
“Providing transitional housing and support services will help vulnerable youth become more self-reliant and ready for independent living,” said Daniel Jarvis, MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour. “This funding provides local at-risk youth the opportunity to turn their lives around right here in our region.”
“The entire North Shore community, and especially the local MLAs, has really come together in support of this project,” said Jane Baynham, chair of the Youth Safe House Advisory Committee. “This funding represents more than two transition beds – it is about providing a continuum of care for vulnerable youth in the North Shore.”
In addition to the funding from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Ministry of Health and Vancouver Coastal Health are providing funding for a youth addiction practitioner and access to a community health nurse and a child and youth mental health hospital liaison social worker.
“These health services – provided at a pivotal time in their lives – will give the support and guidance these youth need to help overcome addiction and related health issues,” said Mary Ackenhusen, chief operating officer for the Coastal Health Services Delivery Area of Vancouver Coastal Health.
The Ministry of Children and Family
Development has an existing contract with Hollyburn Family Services that funds
support services such as parent-teen mediation, family support workers and
transition to adulthood workers for youth at the safe house. The ministry
provides a range of services for vulnerable youth. For more information, please
visit www.mcfd.gov.bc.ca.
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contact: |
Ministry of Children and Family Development 250 356-1639 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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