It’s easier to pay lip service to ‘adequate housing’ if you can drag the costs down. The issue arises for a government tasked with arranging a young person’s care. Really, what can you do as a government agency if teens opt for the most attractive alternative?
Attractive, that is, for a pre-adult who deserves a better explanation of the options.
Needless to say, you can gloat over the money you’ve saved — hardly laughing all the way to the bank, but maybe giggling a little. You’ve managed to entice that pre-adult to pick the glossy, but less expensive shelter package behind door number 1 over the better, but more expensive (to the community) benefits available behind door number 2.
A report from the United Kingdom explains how local councils pull off this confidence trick on teenagers. Does the same thing happen in other jurisdictions around the world? Given that governments are pressed for money, are potholes are being filled and sewers repaired sewers on the backs of youth in care in your community?
Read more at the BBC: Homeless teens ‘tricked away from care by councils to save money’
