With a new report on youth homelessness in Kamloops, the mayor says the issue is one society has a responsibility to deal with.

Ken Christian says the findings from the A Way Home Kamloops Society that 136 people aged 13 to 24 were homeless last year is concerning, particularly for young women.

“”Whether they’re couch surfing, whether they’re just between homes, whether they’re between mom and dad, and whether or not they have fallen victim to the street. And that is a very serious situation… What we can do about it is similar to what we’ve been doing across the affordable housing continuum, where we’ve tried to be a participant in finding a solution,” Christian says.

“We might provide property for housing options, we might provide rent-free space for councilling and for drop-in opportunities for youth, so that we can connect them with the service providers and the wrap-around services they need to escape a life of homelessness and poverty.”

The society’s youth homeless report also found that Indigenous youth were significantly over-represented in their data. It did a formal presentation of its report to community members yesterday, after presenting preliminary data at Kamloops city council earlier this week.

The youth homeless count was the second ever by A Way Home Kamloops; its first survey counted there were 129 youth homeless in the city at some point in 2016.