YHARS is a free confidential youth housing and after care support service targeting young people between the ages of 12 & 20 who are:

• Exiting or transitioning from child safety orders or a period of sentence or remand in youth detention facilities
• Sleeping rough
• At risk of homelessness
• Homeless
• Living in unstable, temporary or inadequate housing

The YHARS program assists the transition into independent living by helping maintain and improve connections between young people, their community, culture and their family by:

• Developing knowledge and skills that foster independent living
• Providing a supportive, case managed environment that focuses on attitudes and the core values of respect, safety and positive self esteem; therefore enabling young people to complete their bail or supervised release orders with less chance of reoffending
• Helping to maintain or improve access to education, training or employment opportunities.

Who can refer to YHARS?

• Youth Justice Services Centres
• Child Safety Service Centres
• Housing and Homelessness Service Centres
• Other Government agencies
• Non-government agencies
• Individuals.

To contact a YHARS Youth Support Officer:  Phone: (07) 4922 2008 or email: yhars@ctcltd.com.au

The After Care Service

• Brokerage funding for independent living
• Servicing all of Central Queensland
• Linkages to appropriate cultural, family and integrated mainstream and specialist support services to; aid in achieving sustained longer term accommodation and service.

What is Brokerage Funding?

The After Care Service brokerage funds are specifically for young people who have recently exited from care after being subject to a Child Protection Order (who are 17 to 21 years) and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Brokerage Uses

Brokerage can be used by services to assist clients at risk of homelessness to:

• Access new accommodation or maintain existing accommodation arrangements
• Access specialist support to stabilise the young person
• Participate in education, training and employment
• Meet a client’s immediate needs where no other options are immediately available
• Payment of utility bills or rent arrears
• Contribution to bond
• Purchase of material aid eg food, white goods, cutlery, crockery, furnishing or medication and hygiene consumables
• Payments for essential documents such as birth certificate
• Purchase of specialist services not provided by YHARS eg psychological, psychiatric or other mental health services, family mediation, therapy or counselling, medical and dental services
• Enrolment or course fees at an educational or training institution

What we do

The YHARS Youth Support Officers aim to establish:  strong, successful relationships with young people facing or experiencing homelessness and help them transition into independent living arrangements with the support of locally integrated networks.