To what extent does current rough sleeping evidence do justice to understanding the number of young people sleeping on our streets? How might young people’s experiences of street homelessness make them less visible in statistics – and with that in policy, decision-making and service development? These were some of the questions which leading London youth homelessness organisations, the Greater London Authority, local authorities, the MHCLG and other stakeholders explored together.
Chaired by Phil Kerry, CEO of New Horizon, the Young People Sleeping Rough Sub-Group conducted its research on behalf of the Mayor’s Life Off the Streets Taskforce in 2019. Following an invitation by the then Deputy Mayor for Housing, James Murray, the sub-group aimed to get a more accurate picture of scale of rough sleeping among 18-25-year-olds and the services they need.
More precisely it set out to:
- understand and improve data on rough sleeping among people aged 18 to 25
- investigate patterns of and reasons for rough sleeping among this group
- determine how young people sleeping rough can best be supported
The findings of the sub-group are now available in its report.
