Outreach services say kids are falling through the cracks of a system under constant pressure with hundreds of children known to the department possibly living on the streets.
abc.net.au/news/queensland-homeless-child-safety-department-street-kids/102105936As the sun sets on Brisbane's CBD, Mel and Marshall from the Brisbane Emergency Response Outreach Service , set out on their night shift.
"We try to build rapport with these young people as well, if they're not eligible for the service we would refer them to other services in the area.""It's really hard to see young people on the streets, they're not sleeping on benches or anything," he said. She said some kids had their placements closed by the department or they left their allocated housing for safety reasons.
The bridge ran over a body of water, providing somewhere to bathe and power points under the bridge gave the group access to power. One youth worker said children were being left in car parks and outside fast food outlets late at night when their placements broke down with the department."We do hear from young people that their placements have been closed against their wishes," she said.
"So we will work with them [the children] about what is the best possible arrangement we can provide," she said.But Ms Mulkerin said placements might be closed if a child was not expected to return. "The only way I could [provide a number] is actually to ask my local colleagues to do their count locally and I made a decision that I actually want them to do the work, rather than stop and roll up the number," she said.
Currently they have nine children using their services who say they're self-placing or have lost their placement. Youth homeless shelters can't accept children under the age of 16 who are under protection orders with the department. Services like BEROS play a crucial role in bridging that divide, according to Community Living Association coordinator Tania Lawrie."Particularly for the young people who access BEROS because they find it so difficult to trust government agencies both child safety, housing, youth justice, so having an organisation that's separate is really important."
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