“For thousands, homelessness is an everyday reality. They live day to day, without any support from their families, with little hope and no trust. Life on the streets is more painful than many of us can imagine. It’s not the fact that children are forced to huddle in doorways or look for shelter in back alleys. It’s not simply their lack of food or warm clothes either. The real pain comes from the loneliness with which they live. Memories of abuse haunt them. They have no place to call home and no one to really care for them”.
- Marea Stenmark in Sir David Martin, a Man of Courage and Dedication
Family Dinners
An incredible piece of research conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University over a decade. They consistently found that the more often children have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.
Simply put: Dinner makes a difference. You can download a copy of this research here
We have attached this amazing piece of research in the hope that more parents may take up the challenge of regularly eating dinner with their family for their childrens sake.
Mission Australia Youth Survey 2008
In 2008 Mission Australia conducted its annual survey of young Australians. The primary purpose of this survey was to identify both the values and issues of concern to young people. 45,558 young people aged 11 to 24 participated in the survey in 2008; a 50% increase in the response rate between 2007 and 2008.
The responses from this survey aim to help inform policy and program development for young Australians and to influence the broader communities understanding of young people. It provides valuable information for governments at all levels and for all those concerned about the wellbeing of young people. Click here to read more and download the full report.
What is Comorbidity?
If you have not heard of comorbidity before you are not alone. Comorbidity simply means the co-occurrence of one or more diseases or disorders in an individual.
According to the Australian Government, Department of Ageing and Health, Resource Kit fir GP Trainers on Illicit Drug Issues, comorbid disorders are common, especially in specialist mental health and addiction services. Persons who have comorbid substance use and mental health disorders have poorer outcomes than those who have a single disorder. For example, the treatments of alcohol dependence and depression both tend to be less effective when conducted in the presence of the other disorder than when comorbidity is not present.
So how do you treat it?
Because Triple Care Farm is dealing with this complex issue every day, they were successful in securing funding from the Mental Health Coordinating Council to conduct a research project with Wollongong University. The research will focus on the outcomes for young people participating in the program who have a comorbid mental illness and drug/alcohol issues. This research will be used to help educate the wider public and service providers into better treatments and management for young people with such complex issues.
Pathways to Youth Homelessness
Claudine Martijn, Louise Sharp
Research has been conducted by The University of Sydney to determine the underlying causes leading to youth homelessness. The researchers were able to identify five pathways after conducting in-depth analysis with a sample involving “35 homeless youth aged 15-24.” The pathways they discovered included those instigated by drug and alcohol problems, trauma, psychological problems and family problems.
Significantly, the findings in this study can be further utilised to develop and implement more “services in the treatment, rehabilitation and support of homeless youth.” Read more...
Homeless Young Australians: Issues and Responses
A unique report by Mission Australia has compared the different concerns, values and heroes of young homeless people with similarly aged Australians who have a stable home. The report, Homeless Young Australians: Issues and Responses, is based on research compiled from Mission Australia’s 2006 National Survey of Young Australians.
The main concern of young homeless people is ‘alcohol and other drugs’ and this research also helps confirm the fact that ‘family conflict’ is the main reason young people become homeless. Read More...
Youth Employment- Participation Continuum
According to Mission Australia, young people today are often faced with significant personal, labour market and economic challenges.
• Do they have the support of family and friends?
• Do they have the skills to obtain work in a market which is increasingly segmented into high or low skilled jobs?
• Do they have the personal attributes and resilience to address life’s challenges and barriers?
The community as a whole bears the financial costs of youth disengagement, through lost productivity and ongoing shortages of skilled workers, costs to the health and justice systems, as well as prolonged periods on welfare payments. There is also a social cost to the suburbs and regions that are characterised by an over-representation in unemployment and poverty. Read more....