Increase in number of young people employed/enrolled in education after completing the Education First Youth Foyer (EFYF)
There is significant wage and employment rate gap between someone who drops out of school in year 10 versus year 12, and those who complete some form of tertiary study compared to people who don’t. The Education First Youth Foyer (EFYF) program is a targeted approach supporting young people to stay out of homelessness, continue their education and build foundational life skills for their future.
46
Young people were studying and/or employed when they completed our EFYF program, (84%).
39
Young people were employed at the completion of our program, an 11.5% increase.
Our work contributes to the SDGs
The Education First Youth Foyer program equips young people who have or are experiencing homelessness, and are willing to engage in education and training, with independent living skills, social connection, support with finding affordable private rentals and other services while they are ‘on campus’. We operate two Foyers – one at Kangan TAFE and another at Holmesglen TAFE.
This year, 84% or, 46 out of 55 young people were engaged in education and / or employment at program completion. There were 39 young people employed at exit (71%); 29 were studying (53%); and 22 were both studying and employed (40%).
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2021-2022 data show that of all young people who received assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services in Victoria, 28% were still enrolled in some form of study and 31% were employed by the end of their support. Our EFYF students are twice as likely than other young people experiencing homelessness to be employed or enrolled after their support ends.
Given the barriers that our young people face, this high 84% employment and/or education rate is encouraging as it is comparable to the 88% employment/education rate observed among all young people across the country (AIHW 2020).
Looking ahead
The Foyers will continue to build on employment opportunities for our students, exploring various sectors. We will also support more students to consider house share options as opposed to living on their own due to the current rental crisis.
Thanks to our partners
Kangan and Holmesglen TAFEs hosted our Foyers on their campuses and provided the education for the program.
MCEC adopted inclusive recruitment practices to remove barriers to employment for Foyer students.
HoMie provided young people with the skills, confidence, and experiences to be more work-ready through retail training and education programs.
For Change Co. employed young people in their Homeplate hospitality training program developing their workplace skills and confidence.