Grade 8s to be surveyed about homelessness

The Okanagan Boys and Girls Club has launched a new initiative that aims to prevent, rather than respond, to youth homelessness.

The program, which involves Grade 8 students being asked a series of questions intended to identify those at risk of becoming homeless, was unveiled during a press conference earlier this week.

Trustees with Central Okanagan Public Schools last year approved the district's participation in the program.

“I think a lot of good, useful information could come out of this survey, that could lead to help for families that might be struggling,” board chair Moyra Baxter said at the time.

“But it’s important this survey be done confidentially, and with the option for students and families to opt out if they want to,” she said.

The survey, promoted by the National Observatory on Homelessness, asks students a broad range of questions. Topics include if they’re worried about their family's food supply, how often they sleep away from home, what kind of student they are, and other personal issues.

Those students whose answers suggest a risk of homelessness will be contacted, along with their families, by school staff and offered help finding resources and programs that may be of benefit to them.

The local youth anti-homeless program has been dubbed Upstream Kelowna.

Program advocate Jordan Siemens, now a youth worker, says if something like this had been available when he was a teen, he might not have fallen “deep into drug addiction, destroyed relationships with family, and other issues he has since overcome,” the Boys and Girls Club says in a release.