Vulnerable youth living in B.C. hotels hard to monitor, meeting hears

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Some young people identified by the province's rapid-response team for vulnerable youth may be living in single-room occupancy hotels (SROs) in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, but the large number of SRO rooms under private control makes it difficult to monitor how many children are involved.

And the reasons for children living in or frequenting the Downtown Eastside are complex, ranging from access to free food and accommodation to the ability to visit family members or because that is where they grew up.

Details of those and other concerns are outlined in minutes of meetings of the rapid-response team, which were obtained by The Globe and Mail through a Freedom of Information request.

"It was identified that some of these young people may be residing in SROs in Vancouver and the RCY [B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth] recommended the immediate steps to ensure that no children or youth in care or receiving service from [the Ministry of Children and Family Development] are living in SROs," say minutes from a July 14, 2015, meeting.

Provincial housing agency BC Housing oversees only about 1,500 of the roughly 4,500 SRO spaces in Vancouver, the minutes note, adding that "the remaining 3,000 spaces are private-sector owned and operated and therefore are more difficult to co-ordinate and influence."

The documents also note that young people live in or frequent the Downtown Eastside for multiple reasons, including a feeling of being accepted by the community and the ability to earn money through "illicit work."

The rapid response team was set up last year in response to recommendations to a May, 2015, report by independent child watchdog Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. That report – Paige's Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded – slammed the children's ministry for shortcomings in its dealings with Paige, an aboriginal young woman who was 19 when she died of a drug overdose on the Downtown Eastside in 2013.

Ms. Turpel-Lafond found Paige didn't get the help she needed despite having multiple contacts with the ministry before she died.

The rapid-response team is supposed to ensure that government agencies, non-profits and other groups work together to provide housing, medical care and other support to young people who need it.

The team focuses on high-risk youth who meet "at least several" criteria, say terms of reference included in the minutes, including use of alcohol or drugs to a degree that interferes with their day-to-day functioning as well as experience of being sexually exploited and living in shelters, on the street or "other unstable circumstances."

The minutes include multiple references to the need for housing.

"What is missing currently are low-barrier housing options for youth," the minutes of a February 11, 2015, meeting say.

"BC Housing is doing a search for potential housing in the east side of Vancouver," the minutes note.

"Capital and operational funding will be required. It is apparent that specialized staffing with skills in dealing with mental-health and addictions issues are required to create safety in any low-barrier resource that is developed."

In May, the ministry announced $1.2-million for youth services in the Downtown Eastside that would include a "no questions asked" safe-housing site, projected to open next year.

Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux was not available for an interview.

In response to a question about SRO stays, a ministry spokesperson said ministry social workers never place children or youth in an SRO or hotel and would respond to any report of a youth staying in an SRO, "often working jointly with police in order to address any safety concerns."

Earlier this year, the province agreed to provide public updates on hotel stays for children in care every six months. In the first public report, released June 1, the ministry said there were 13 occasions of a child or sibling group being placed in a hotel.