Life changing youth support program to close due to lack of Government funding
Life changing youth support program to close due to lack of Government funding.
The Compass Program, which has been instrumental in providing vital support and guidance to marginalised young people, is now set to close due to a severe lack of government funding, leaving many vulnerable individuals without this critical resource.
The Compass Outreach Program run by Vinnies WA out of their specialist Passages Youth Engagement Hubs and funded by the Commonwealth as a pilot program, helps young people avoid or exit homelessness and enables them to identify and pursue their own goals around life-skills, education, training, employment, and relationships.
By supporting young people with housing, education, debt management and job searches the program is deemed to have a potential economic benefit of between $1.29m and $1.96m to the West Australian government.
There has been a reduction in offending and antisocial behaviour, via engagement in employment, education, training, and other meaningful use of time activities.
The Compass program is a vital extension of the Passages Youth Engagement Hubs, which are core and unique services within the youth homelessness system. Operating the Hubs costs $1.5 million annually, with Vinnies WA covering $1.2 million of these expenses. For many years, Vinnies WA has consistently requested the State Government to share this cost and provide $500,000 in funding for the Passages Perth Hub. This funding is now urgently needed to keep the innovative and highly successful Compass program operational. Without this critical funding, Vinnies WA will be forced to discontinue the program.
In October 2022, the Compass Outreach Program (Compass) was established via funding from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Safer Communities Fund.
In the 16 months since it was established the program has supported 37 young people aged between 16-25 of which:
- 22% Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islanders
- 49% Female
- 95% had mental health issues
- 82% had experienced homelessness before age 18
"The imminent closure of the Compass Program is a heartbreaking development for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our community," said Susan Rooney, CEO at Vinnies WA. "We have witnessed first-hand the transformative impact of the Program in helping extremely vulnerable young people secure stable housing, gain employment, and rebuild their lives. It is deeply disappointing that despite every effort over a number of years to encourage State Government to take on some funding responsibility for Passages Perth, we are now in the position that we are unable to sustain this vital program due to lack of funding."
Personal Testimonials:
“Compass has helped me get into my Tafe course and then through the Tafe course it’s been talked about a few times that I might have a job lined up at the end of it all. That’s the only two problems I really had – accommodation and employment…they basically got solved or are being solved by Compass. Literally life changing, couldn’t have asked for more to be honest.” - Perth Compass Participant
“It really helps when you have people who believe in you and want you to succeed, because it makes you feel better, and it makes you feel like you can do it. They have helped me so much.” - Peel Compass Participant
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