Podcast: Kane Apelu celebrates resilience, ingenuity and second chances for un-housed youth in the justice system
Research tells us there’s a clear link between youth homelessness and involvement with the criminal justice system. Young people who are un-homed are more likely to engage in what’s called ‘survival crimes’, like stealing, to meet their needs, and are more likely to be seen and caught by police while they’re doing it. And people already in the justice system are more likely to be homeless as they come out, because of the challenges they face in finding work and accommodation with a criminal record.
It’s tough. But it means if you can connect a young person with a home, you might be able to interrupt that cycle – and start to address the root causes of their offending behaviour, helping them leave crime behind.
Today, hear from Kane Apelu on the Worth A Second Chance podcast. Kane manages Jesuit Social Services’ housing programs, and told us more about the link between being un-housed and getting caught up in the justice system – and the compassion, respect and support that make a real difference to young people’s lives.
And you can keep scrolling to read the full transcript of this conversation.
Sophie Raynor
Welcome to the Worth A Second Chance podcast, where we explore true stories, challenges and solutions from the frontlines of Australia's youth justice systems. My name is Sophie Raynor.
Research tells us there’s a clear link between youth homelessness and involvement with the criminal justice system. Young people who are un-homed are more likely to engage in what’s called ‘survival crimes’, like stealing, to meet their needs, and are more likely to be seen and caught by police while they’re doing it. And people already in the justice system are more likely to be homeless as they come out, because of the challenges they face in finding work and accommodation with a criminal record.
In Australia, 12% of people leaving youth detention will seek help from a homelessness services, and as adults, they’re twice as likely to have slept rough or in squats. It’s tough, but it means if you can connect a young person with a home, you might be able to interrupt that cycle – and start to address the root causes of their offending behaviour.
Kane Apelu
If a person is experiencing homelessness or they’re transient, the last thing on their mind is about how to address their underlying issues, in my experience, anyway. What they're focusing on is where they can safely sleep for the night.
Sophie Raynor
On today’s episode, it’s Kane Apelu, who’s the housing programs manager at Jesuit Social Services. He talks about how housing helps provide the support and stability young people need to heal from harm, change their behaviour, and reset their lives.
Hi, Kane. I want to start by getting a bit of a picture from you: who are the young people that you're working with – can you describe your cohort generally?
Kane Apelu
in terms of the young people that we support, the young people that have had a long history of trauma, have had involvement in the out-of-home care system, have had involvement in the youth justice or adult justice system, whether that be historical current, and that also live with neuro diverse, I guess, neurodiversity, if you put it that way, in terms of lived experience with an intellectual disability. So, I guess there's a pretty significant intersection of these young people being involved in the criminal justice system and the homeless service system. So a lot of the support needs, in my experience, with my staffs’ experience is around addressing issues of housing instability.
Sophie Raynor
What are their top challenges or needs?
Kane Apelu
There's variation in the experiences of young people. So, I'll break it down as much as I can. But I think with the cohort that are coming out of home care is that there's very limited housing options for them once they turn 18. I know there's been some initiatives that have been implemented recently, such as the Better Futures funding and the Home Stretch funding that goes up to 21 years of age, to help them stabilise themselves in community. But I think that's one of the one of the most significant issues with that particular cohort coming out of home care, because one, they might have established relationships with their families, or extended families, but whether or not that's conducive to, you know, positive relationships, or whether there's an opportunity to reconnect or reunify with them in a positive way. That's another question in and of itself. So, and I think that there's the other contributor is, you know, depending on the length of time that a young person has experienced in out-of-home care and gone between different residential facilities, or if they're present with problematic behaviours, and they might go on to secure welfare or if they're offending, they're going to… they may receive custodial dispositions… I think it's the self-value and self-worth of that young person. And their self-esteem has really diminished because they've been bounced from place to place to place and the underlying issues contributing to that presentation haven't necessarily been unpacked appropriately. Or there might have been opportunities that have been missed. So I think the biggest significant risk factor in terms of homelessness for that particular cohort is the limited options that are available. And family breakdowns and that sort of thing, because at the end of the day, they wouldn’t be in the out-of-home care system if they had a stable framework and familial structure.
Sophie Raynor
There's a relationship between homelessness and involvement with the justice system. Can you describe that to me?
Kane Apelu
I think the best I can describe it is if they're really entrenched in the homelessness service system, and they engaging in offending behaviours. They graduate from level to level.
So, they get involved as a young person, go through the youth justice system. You know, there's interventions in place and that sort of thing, about rehabilitation, addressing criminogenic needs, and then that moves into them being involved in a higher level of crime, or what's seen in legislation as moving into the adult system. So I think that there's many points within that, within that spectrum, where interventions could be utilised. But in relating that experience back to being at risk of homelessness, it's about the capacity, or the social capacity… have they got a stable relationship with their family and their peers? Do they have a stable and consistent care team, with wraparound support that addresses their support needs? Have their offending behaviours changed in a sense? Or has their view of the offending behaviours shifted? Do they have an income? Where's the income coming from if they do? So there's a range of factors that are being at risk of violence, this is a thing for young people that have experience of custodial dispositions and coming out of custody, I think it's a really daunting experience for them. And I think, the longer the time spent in custodial settings, the more chances are a young person becomes institutionalised.
Sophie Raynor
So, some of the programs you oversee have a residential component where young people physically reside in a house. Tell me more about what's happening there.
Kane Apelu
There’s a real focus on developing independent living skills and connecting into pro-social activities. And also, trying to shift the views and perspectives of young people about what a shared living environment looks like, and what it feels like, you know, there's a lot of tangible sides of it, of being valued as a person, I suppose, and developing self-worth and self-value by having, you know, furnishings within the house that are of quality. You know, some young people might say, I've never had a pillow before, or I've used my jumper to roll it up and use it as a pillow. I've been wearing the same socks for however long; I've been wearing the same shoes that have had holes, and I haven't had the money or the resources to be able to get myself good quality clothing or furnishings or whatever it may be. So it's about our interactions, and practice with young people to shift away from their experiences of transactional engagement, and moving more towards transformational engagement.
Sophie Raynor
Before we move on to talking more about your way of working with young people, I'd like to ask you another question about your approach, which uses a housing first model for supporting young people. What's that?
Kane Apelu
The housing first model is basically – the fundamental principles of housing first is in the name itself: is to have a house first, and then use the house as a foundation to work on all the underlying issues that a person may be experiencing. But to have a house is very important. And the opposite of that, if a person is experiencing homelessness, or they’re transient, the last thing on their mind is about how to address their underlying issues, in my experience, anyway. What they're focusing on is where they can safely sleep for the night. In our experience across the programs, offering the opportunity for a young person to have their own house and turn it into a home can sometimes be challenging. Why I say that is because they they've had limited or no experience around housing stability, or a place to call their own. And I think one of the, I guess, most poignant observations now I've made is a young person that was in the Link Youth Justice Housing Program that lived in a three-bedroom private rental. And we had noticed that this young person had set up all their furnishings and all their personal belongings in one specific area of the house. Okay, now that might sound really intriguing. But as we unpack that, what we realised was that this young person had spent a lot of time in custody, had a long history of out-of-home care, had experiences of their belongings being taken. And they had a real sense of sentimental value around the belongings and what that meant to them. And so in order to keep themselves safe, and to keep their belongings safe, they had a lot of value to them, was to have it in a space where they could have their eyes on it all the time, which they knew where it was, and that sort of thing. And also, they subconsciously replicated the size of a cell in a prison setting. So anything bigger than a cell itself was completely unfamiliar to them. That's where they felt comfortable, in a very small part of the house, where they felt that they could have control. And, you know, like I said, that that can be confronting for a lot of people to hear. But that's the reality of it; when you're in a three-by-four cell, in a prison setting for an extended period of time, and that's all you know, with no natural light, and a whole lot of noise and a whole lot of chaos. You know, it's not unexpected. Or it's not unfamiliar to us as workers to see some of those institutionalised behaviours manifest in community. So, being institutionalised, they get really familiar with that environment they have, they have staff that are there 24/7, there's a really rigid structure, they get locked in at certain times, they come out at certain times, they engage with young people that are engaging in similar offending behaviours, or come from the same social circles, who have similar trauma backgrounds, and trauma histories. Now, take away all their familiarity and returning into community, there's a high level of angst and anxiety in returning to the unknown. And not having that, that structure and routine and wrap-out support in place. In my experience, I find that that transition into community needs to be gradual, and needs to be considered, and needs to be stepped up quite comprehensively to give those young people a better opportunity transitioning to community as opposed to experiencing homelessness and resorting to offending behaviours just to survive. And also, you know, in terms of survival as well, they might have peers that they're connected with in community, but more often than not, they exhaust those housing options as well, I think, because their peers might not be as well equipped or resourced to address their needs, they might not understand, you know, more comprehensively, and I guess, from a therapeutic perspective about what's actually happening for them. And so they burn those bridges, unfortunately. And then they end up in custody. So I think that those are the major contributors to the risk of homelessness for that cohort.
Sophie Raynor
I'd like to shift our conversation back to those young people themselves. You and I have spoken before about the importance of respecting young people and believing in them. Can you tell me more about fostering young people's sense of self-worth in your approach to your work?
Kane Apelu
I think it's really founded upon the organisational ethos of walking beside someone as opposed to in front or behind. And it's getting a really good understanding in a safe and appropriate way of the stories of these young people what they would like to achieve, and how we can support them to achieve those goals. I think further to that, as well as not discounting or devaluing the resilience of these young people, as well. They're quite persistent and consistent and very resourceful. And they have transferable skills to a degree, if I like to think of transferable skills being that they might have offending behaviours, but their skills in those offending behaviours could translate over to something more positive. And more often than not, young people might laugh with me, and I'll say, Well, I know part of your offending history is break and enters or motor vehicle offences, or theft and robbery. Or it might be you know, dealing substances and that sort of thing. And so we try and unpack some of those skills from that in a positive way and reframe it. So we're talking about breaking into cars. You know, what's the reason for you breaking into cars? Do you have an interest in mechanics? Are you a good driver in your opinion? Do you have a license, and if you don't have a license, we look for to an avenue where we can put you on a positive trajectory as opposed to offending in that way. It sounds really facetious in the way that I'm explaining it, but I guess it's more pulling out the strengths of the young people in whatever behaviours they're exhibiting and reminding them that they can use those skills and those talents in a more positive way.
Sophie Raynor
That's fantastic. I'm going to ask you to solve some problems here. If you've got unlimited money, unlimited resources, unlimited time, what are some of the interventions that could be resourced to address those homelessness risk factors?
Kane Apelu
I think more broadly, from a societal perspective, is to, I guess, to promote, foster and reinforce the importance of compassion to your fellow human being. I think there has been a lot of societal views of a negative nature about those that offend and experience homelessness. And there's a lot of rhetoric that you that you'd hear through media about, why can't they just get a job, get off Centerlink, you know, stop being a dole bludger, all that sort of stuff. So I think that that rhetoric is not helpful. So I think more broadly, at a societal level, that needs to be, you know, I guess fostered around that value of compassion. So if we were to align it to funding, it's really about the marketing aspect of it, and really trying to change the psychological views of society as a whole. And that's an impossible task. But that's not to say that we can't make steps towards that. You know, in terms of the physical aspect of funding, you know, in my vision is that everybody has a home. And it's, and it's a basic human need to have a home, to feel like you have a place that you can call your own, to feel safe, and to really flourish. So, for me, in terms of funding, it'd be to build more houses, and not just houses, but to have support in place to develop participants’ views about their self-worth and self-value. So it's not just the house anymore, with shifting that physical aspect of it, in a psychological sense, to it being their home.
Sophie Raynor
On that point you just made about self-worth and self-belief. The assumption I've made here is that Jesuit Social Services’ relational way of working, you know, walking alongside a young person, accompanying them, seeing the young person as a whole person sort of philosophy, is that uncommon compared to how young people in the system have been treated before?
Kane Apelu
Yes, I think so. In our experience, I think that there's a range of reasons for that when that happens. I think the major structural issues that the community sector is under-resourced. So in terms of key performance indicators, it really becomes quantity over quality. And I think, for us at Jesuit Social Services is the importance of making sure that not only do we name with young people that, you know, you're valued as a human. And what we'd like to see, for you to develop is that, to have belief in yourself, and know that we believe in you, we believe that you can get to the point where you believe that you can make a significant positive change in your life. So I think the relational model of the Our Way of Working framework that we use within the organisation is really pertinent to building respectful and trusting relationships. And I think, for a lot of young people that have, that we've supported in the housing programs, is that you can see behaviours that are exhibited or manifested in a way of not being used, or not being familiar with someone that actually showing genuine care about their wellbeing and their welfare. And I think that's also intertwined with trauma-informed practice, understanding trauma, understanding, you're trying to show them a different experience, and they might react in a way that you might not expect or might seem unusual. They might get defensive or agitated or aggressive, but that's because they haven't been shown that before. So it takes a while to get used to.
Sophie Raynor
One final question for you. How important is a young person having self-worth, self-esteem, self-confidence in them slowing or interrupting their cycle of offending?
Kane Apelu
It's the most important in my view. And I think it aligns with other values as well that determination, motivation, you know, around wanting to change. So, those aspects of self-belief, self-confidence and self-esteem don't exist, or they exist in a very limited way, the chances and opportunities to change their trajectory in terms of offending is slim to none. And I think, you know, in addressing offending behaviours, it's not… It's not going to happen overnight. It's a lifelong journey. And sometimes, you know, participants might revert back to what they know. And that goes back to the theme we were speaking about earlier, about going back to where they feel comfortable and feel safe and feel familiar with. Because change isn't easy. And when change is implemented, the outcomes that come from that is confusing. I can actually do something; I put my mind to this, and it's happening. I've always envisioned something like this, I never knew that it come to fruition, or this is what it looked like. But here I am. Now, what do I do with it? Now at that point, is where you go, you've, you've achieved something really, really important here. And you should be proud of yourself. And know that we as practitioners and as an organisation are proud of you, too. And that's a good way to build on that and keep going, keep persisting. You're a resilient young person, you've been resilient through some very traumatic experiences. This one here is a different experience that you're not familiar with. But we'll work through that too.
Sophie Raynor
That was Kane Apelu speaking to Worth a Second Chance about housing, homelessness, and the youth justice system.
Worth a Second Chance is a community campaign from Jesuit Social Services. We’re calling for a more fair, humane and effective youth justice system – and we need your help. Learn more, and join the campaign at worthasecondchance.com.au
Thanks to Kane Apelu for speaking with me today, and you can find new conversations every second Wednesday. My name is Sophie Raynor, and this was Worth A Second Chance.