Homeless Youth Report
The Peace Management Initiative (PMI) was engaged through a series of partnership consultations with various stakeholders including political representatives, JFLAG and the British High Commission to treat with a group of high risk homeless youth who were accused of carrying out several robberies and incidences of public disorder in the New Kingston Community.
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The PMI was tasked to unearth the real problems affecting the group and start the process of transitioning them out of their current situation.
The group was sensitized to the work of the PMI and what was expected of them before being invited to attend a Residential Workshop. The workshop shed light on issues of identity, broken relationships, anger suffering and abuse, homelessness, sexual dysfunction, fear and the lack of hope experienced by the group. The PMI later embarked on a series of therapeutic workshops to treat with many of these issues. The main challenge faced in dealing with the group was the fact that their living situation was unstable.
The PMI tried to overcome this obstacle by emphasizing to the participants that their life process depended solely on their commitment to the process while providing them with a support network they could trust. Going forward a significant amount of work needs to be done in the medium to long term in treating with the group’s psycho-social issues while equipping them with the tools and the opportunities they need to develop themselves and move away from the street.