Last year, more than 40,000 kids younger than ten, faced homelessness in Australia. Usually, the support services are aimed at adults in the family, it is their job to look after the children. But a new program is putting the spotlight on the kids, asking them simple questions like, ‘how are you?’
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00:00 Joelle Presencula's got a few tattoos, but two are special.
00:07 I've got an A for my daughter's name here.
00:10 She got her two daughters' initials just after she secured housing, something she doesn't
00:15 take for granted.
00:17 Joelle was five when she first became homeless, couch surfing with her mum and three younger
00:23 siblings.
00:24 I just had no idea what was going on.
00:26 I had no idea what was going on, so mum received a support worker and I just was kind of, you
00:32 know, in the background.
00:33 She went through homelessness several more times as a young person.
00:38 I feel like if I had specialist support when I was a child experiencing homelessness, I
00:42 may not have experienced reoccurring homelessness that I did.
00:46 A new program in Melbourne's outer east is doing just that, linking kids with a specialist
00:52 worker.
00:53 She actually has those private conversations with the children.
00:57 The program's been running for about six months and helped about 15 kids aged six to
01:03 16.
01:04 First of all, to find some words for their feelings.
01:08 Things like, well, I was really sad when I left a particular school.
01:12 It can also be tough for even younger kids.
01:15 Over four years, there were at least 410 children under five, including babies, at Melbourne
01:23 City Mission's Youth Homelessness Refuges with their parents.
01:26 35 babies were born into refuges in the past year.
01:31 It's a huge oversight.
01:34 Melbourne City Mission is relying on philanthropy to fund an early childhood worker.
01:39 To support their safety needs, their wellbeing needs, their physical needs, developmental
01:44 needs.
01:45 The Federal Government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan with the states
01:49 and territories.
01:51 These groups are urging them to include the needs of very young children.
01:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]