It is widely acknowledged, both anecdotally and statistically, that across Wales, family relationship breakdown is the main cause of homelessness amongst young people. Llamau’s Mediation Service is a preventative service aimed at reducing homelessness amongst this age group by helping young people and their families find their own solutions to family conflicts.

The Project aims to enable young people to return home or remain at home with their family, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Where it is not possible for a young person to remain at home long term, the mediation worker will look to arrange a temporary return home whilst a planned move into appropriate accommodation is facilitated. If a return home is not possible at all, the mediation worker will work with the young person to rebuild support networks with their parent/s or members of the wider family.

 

Llamau’s Mediation Service is available to all 16 and 17 year olds who are homeless or threatened with homeless. Referrals are accepted from all agencies, schools, colleges, training providers, statutory services, family members and the young person themselves.

 

Llamau’s first mediation project began in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, as a direct response to the changes in priority need legislation by the Welsh Assembly Government.

 

This new legislation saw a huge increase in numbers of 16 & 17 year olds presenting as homeless and meant that many young and vulnerable people were being placed in inappropriate temporary accommodation, such as Bed and Breakfast, sometimes many miles away from their town or city, family and friends.

 

Vulnerable young people were also being given permanent accommodation they were often not ready for; they were estranged from their parents and were not getting any family support. It came as no surprise that many of these tenancies failed.

 

Funded in part by the Welsh Assembly Government, Llamau’s Family Mediation Service has now been operating in 5 local authority areas in South East Wales for the past 18 months.

 

The success rate of Llamau’s Mediation Service has been outstanding, with an average return home / remain at home rate of 44% across the 5 local authority areas, with some areas achieving a rate of 65%. In real costs, this represents a huge savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds in the bed and breakfast budgets of local authorities, particularly at a time when the Welsh Assembly is setting targets for the reduction and elimination of the use of B & Bs for this client group.

 

Llamau has recently begun piloting its mediation project to work with 14 and 15 year olds, in an attempt to help families before the situation reaches crisis point. In some areas, the mediation workers are in regular contact with schools and colleges, meeting young people and their parents on the premises to help resolve difficult family situations.