星空传媒

鈥淏ad things just seem to happen to me one after another,鈥� says 17-year-old Sara from Cardiff. Sara, who did not want to give her surname, left home at 15 after years of abuse, and moved in with her older boyfriend. But he turned violent when she became pregnant so she left him just before the baby was due, seeking refuge at a women鈥檚 shelter. After her daughter was born, social services decided Sara was not fit to look after her and took the baby into care. Sara found herself homeless, with no means of supporting herself and without her daughter.

Sadly, she is not an isolated case. Since 2001, the number of homeless young people in Wales has been rising steadily and the gap between numbers of homeless women and homeless men is widening. According to Welsh Assembly statistics, from April to June 2002, 59 young men and 100 young women were accepted by Welsh local authorities as unintentionally homeless. This grew to 98 and 141 respectively for the same period in 2003. But by 2004, although the number of young homeless men had fallen to 82, the number of young homeless women had risen to 166.

The figures paint a bleak picture.

But what鈥檚 lacking is any real understanding of why the number of young homeless women is rising so dramatically. Little research has been done to explain the increase, but Carl Chappell, development officer for homelessness charity Homeless Link Cymru, says: 鈥淭here could be a range of reasons why the statistics show an increase and we need to uncover what these might be. Is there an actual rise, or is it that more young women are coming forward as they are now more likely to be accepted as homeless?鈥�

Or, could it be that the services being offered to women are now encouraging them to come forward? Women have traditionally been among the 鈥渉idden homeless鈥� and tended to avoid presenting as homeless, often ending up in abusive relationships or situations where they are exploited as a result. Ironically, the very success of charities in changing the image of homeless hostels could be increasing the number who register.

But while reasons for the increase may be unclear, it is undeniably the case that there is a growing demand for organisations such as Llamau. The charity provides accommodation and services for young homeless people, including some aimed specifically at women. Last year, Sara was referred by Cardiff social services to the charity and assigned a housing association flat in a women-only block as well as a support worker. The charity has also been able to give her the training she needs to get 鈥� and stay 鈥� back on her feet.

The specialist services Llamau offers include family mediation, education workshops and life skills training on things like budgeting, cooking and reading. On two days a week Sara also attends educational and craft-based workshops in Cardiff, organised by Llamau.

It was changes to Welsh homelessness legislation that made it possible for these services to be set up. In 2001, Wales was the first country in the UK to recognise

16- to 17-year-olds as a separate priority need category for housing 鈥� England followed suit when it brought in the 2002 Homelessness Act. The legislation enabled Llamau to secure funding from the Supporting People revenue grant to develop new schemes.

It also meant local authorities had to keep records of how many young people were presenting themselves as homeless. This gave the authorities a clearer profile of service users and enabled them to work more closely with charities and care providers to fulfil users鈥� needs.

In the same year that the legislation was changed, Llamau 鈥� which has been established for 20 years 鈥� was approached by Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Caerphilly, Bridgend and Newport councils to set up support centres in each local authority area. The centres that resulted provide a range of services, such as support workers, accommodation, workshops and drop-in sessions for 16-17 year olds. In a relaxed and informal environment young homeless people can learn basic skills, or if they simply want to hang out and watch television, they can do that too.

Women are far more likely to share their experiences with each other when men aren鈥檛 around 

Barbara Sayer

But it is specifically at women that Llamau is targeting many of its services. 鈥淗omeless hostels tend to be full of very chaotic men aged 35 and above, who are very streetwise but who have serious support issues and are likely to suffer from substance abuse or mental health problems,鈥� says Frances Beecher, director of Llamau. 鈥淭hey are intimidating and unfriendly places for young people, especially women, to end up.鈥�

Llamau has developed two small hostels exclusively for women and has secured 35 flats with registered social landlords across the five Welsh local authorities it works in.

It offers young women their own tenancy agreements for a maximum two-year period, during which time they are appointed a Llamau support worker. The Learning 4 Life service also has women-only sessions two days a week in which women get together to share experiences. Sara is one of the young women that attend the women-only sessions.

The charity has taken the radical step of setting up all-female services to ensure women have a safe environment to learn life skills. 鈥淲omen are far more likely to share their experiences with each other when men aren鈥檛 around,鈥� says Barbara Sayer, who runs the Llamau Cardiff Learning 4 Life centre. 鈥淎nd once they open up, it becomes much easier to engage with them and help them develop skills relevant to their individual abilities.鈥�

Young people at risk of homelessness have also benefited from the specialist services. Sara is good friends with Charmaine, also 17. Unlike Sara, she still lives at home with her parents, but wants to move out as soon as possible. Her mother wants her to be independent by the time she is 18, but Charmaine鈥檚 school career was disrupted by partial deafness, dyslexia and the bullying these problems caused 鈥� she still refuses to wear a hearing aid as a result. Through Learning 4 Life she learned budgeting skills and hopes to go to college in September.

Llamau has found that its family mediation service 鈥� which tries to prevent young people becoming homeless in the first place by resolving family disputes 鈥� is of particular help to young women. Between April and December last year the service dealt with 322 new cases, of which 74% were young women. Through mediation, about 60% of them either remained at, or returned, home. A common problem encountered was that of a new partner of a parent moving into the family home.

Homelesslink Cymru鈥檚 Chappell believes there is a need for this kind of specialist service across the country. He warns that a lack of services in some areas could be why a disproportionately high number of young women are being referred to Llamau. He says more research is needed to make sure that demand is being met across the country.

鈥淲e need to look at specific local authority breakdowns of where the young women are coming from so that we can see what services are being offered in those authorities and what affect this is having. This will enable us to identify whether there are gaps in service provision,鈥� says Chappell. It will also enable councils and service providers such as Llamau to ensure that young women like Sara get the right kind of help at the right time.

Sara is determined to take advantage of the opportunities that Llamau鈥檚 specialist support has given her. 鈥淢y priority is to keep myself sane for when my baby comes looking for me. I鈥檇 like to get a job in a shop or office so I鈥檓 going to start a training scheme two days a week,鈥� she says. 鈥淟lamau has helped me realise that there鈥檚 not much that I鈥檓 not good at.鈥�