The closure of a national youth support program means hundreds of vulnerable teenagers are at risk of falling through the cracks, youth workers say.
When 17-year-old Lucy Newman was first referred to a Youth Connections program in Brisbane she was homeless, a school dropout, battling drug addiction and had serious mental health issues.
But a year on, she had graduated from grade 12, got an internship, and said she wanted to be an actor.
“I was homeless for 18 months and I was having a really bad downhill [run] and they’ve helped me out,” she said.
“They help with housing and mental health – I had really bad mental health issues and they’ve just got me back on my feet.
“It’s definitely brought me back to who I was a long time ago.
“Getting back to my old self – it gives you a lot of confidence knowing that you can rely on workers to talk to when you have no-one.”
Funding cut in May budget
But she will be one of the last to benefit from the program, which helped disengaged 14 to 18-year-olds reconnect with education, work or training.
In the May budget, the Federal Government decided not to renew funding for the initiative, meaning centres across Australia would close by the end of the month.
Youth centre worker Angela Willock is in the process of dismantling photos and cards from teenagers that have accumulated on her desk over the past five years.
She said she was struggling to figure out where young people would go now.
“I think the problematic thing is not knowing where to refer those kids to now,” she said.
“There isn’t another similar program to this – that gap is not being filled.
“There is stuff being provided within schools but that doesn’t capture a lot of the kids that we see.
“I can talk on behalf of myself and a couple of others where our first point of engagement with some young people has been sitting outside their bedroom door because they’re too anxious to come out.”
Josh Long had used Youth Connections in Brisbane since he was 14 and said it had changed his life.
“I just don’t understand why they’re taking such a good resource away from the young people, because other than places like this – what’s next for us?” he said.
“Jails and institutions? Programs like this is what really helps kids away from mental institutions, jails, psych wards, and it just really diverts people because it gives them something else to do.”
School a state responsibility, Federal Government says
The Federal Government declined to talk to the ABC, but in a statement, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Senator Scott Ryan, said it was a state government issue.
“It is the responsibility of state and territory governments to ensure that young people stay in school until they are 17 as per their own legislation,” the statement said.
“Around 74 per cent of the young people supported by the Youth Connections program were under 17 years old and thus a state and territory responsibility.
“Youth Connections providers are required to refer young people to appropriate alternative support services before the end of the year.”
Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said schools would continue to provide services.
“We are working hard to make sure our schools can continue to provide a range of initiatives to support at-risk youth to stay at school, to re-engage in education or training, or to transition to employment,” he said in a statement.
Fears school system will lose kids
But Ms Willock remained worried that children who did not go to school would be missed.
“It’s all going to be rerouted back into the mainstream education system so all those people that are starting to disengage are going to get picked up, but the ones who have already disengaged or who are seriously disadvantaged, aren’t going to have any services to access in terms of training and education,” she said.
Ms Willock has been made redundant, along with hundreds of other Youth Connections staff, but that was not the biggest thing bothering her.
“Our team has lost our positions so we’re all unemployed – but I think more importantly for us that means we have caseloads of young people that we need to figure out what we’re going to do with and try and find ways that they’re going to be supported beyond us finishing,” she said.
“We’ll go on and find other jobs, but what do we do with all the young people who are left hanging there?”
Mr Long shared her concerns.
“It’s probably helpful for the kids that are in the school programs, but kids like me – we can’t handle school properly,” he said.
“But you’ve got programs like this that don’t focus on the school path so much – I mean that comes with it – but they more just focus on what’s your issues in life? How can we help you?”
He hoped one day he might be able to help.
“It’s given me the motivation to become a youth worker myself because I’ve seen how they are … and they love their jobs and they love helping, working with young people,” Mr Long said.
“I want to do the same because it’s done a lot for my life and I want to do the same for people in my position.”