Caretakers Cottage Youth Refuge houses up to 10 young people at a time who are homeless or at high risk of becoming homeless. Our residential clients are aged 13 through 17years, both male and female.
Our team work with years of experience, theoretical and practical knowledge, and a lot of common sense to resolve issues which have lead to a young person's homelessness and/or the break down of the family.
The length of stay of a young person at Caretakers varies according to need, but we always work as quickly as we can to restore young people to their homes or find them more stable medium to long term accommodation. This might take anywhere from 1 night to 3 months.
Young people who stay at Caretakers are required to engage with a Caseworker to come up with a plan to resolve their homelessness (a caseplan) and to agree to follow the rules fo the house.
EARLY INTERVENTION
Some young people or families call the service looking for accommodation, but after some conversations, it is agreed that it they will try and make home work with some extra help - this might come from Caretakers or from referrals we make to other services.
AFTERCARE
When a young person has left Caretakers ideally it is to return home, move on to a longer term accommodation service, or perhaps even move out independently. We care a lot about our kids, and as much as we love having them, we hope that they will never have to return. We provide ongoing support to our ex-residents, making sure that everything is going smoothly where-ever they end up, and providing whatever supports they may need to carry on the journey to a successful adult life.