Foyer - your future starts here
The pathway to a future begins for each young person with a personal committment to themselves to work tochange their lives, and make an application to live in a learning environment that will support them in achieving their goals.
Services
FOYERs are staffed around the clock by professional and fully trained people. Led by a Manager, a team of tenancy, administrative, support and security staff will work together to provide a safe environment and personal support to every young person residing in FOYER.
Click here for the Foyer pathway
Property Management
Tenancy Officers manage the allocation of apartments, monitor rental payments, co-ordinate response to maintenance issues with the property manager and provide tenancy advice and support to FOYER residents.
Support
FOYER Support Officers will provide individual case management to FOYER residents. They will conduct initial reviews of applications, provide induction to the FOYER program, instigate any life skills training they need and link them to mainstream education programs, establish individual FOYER Resident and Learning Contracts, case plan their resettlement and provide support to move out to independence. The experience of foyers internationally is that about 75% will leave with full time work, or will be on their way to university. Resettlement support continues up to 18 months or until the young person is confident in living without it.
Security
On-site security staff will supervise entry and exit of all residents, staff and visitors, and monitor the FOYER building 24 hours a day. They will be backed by state of the art security systems that include card access and CCTV monitoring of all public and common space.
Location
The physical location of a foyer is critical to it’s success. The combined experience of over 130 foyers in the UK has demonstrated that they must be centrally located to work. They must be near public transport, education, training and work opportunities. Most importantly they must send a strong message to both young people and the community that the foyer residents are valued by placing them in the area of greatest potential. For example a Foyer in or very near the city of Adelaide, South Australia, meets the following criteria:
- Central to metropolitan transport system
- Over 100 education and training institutions
- Multiple work opportunities in retail, service and business sectors
Building
The most successful foyers are in buildings that are landmarks and contribute to regeneration. They provide both status to the young people living there, and to the area they are located. Good design is essential for the building to be attractive and practical, secure, and cost and environmentally efficient to operate. They include well-planned offices for support staff, training rooms and space for tenant partners. They include state of the art security and IT systems, but above all provide high quality accommodation and training facilities for foyer residents.
Cost
FOYER projects are challenging to fund because they involve a mixture of uses, and potentially expensive because of the scale necessary for the foyer to operate effectively, and
- Higher land costs of prime location
- To contribute to regeneration must be well-designed landmark
- To keep costs low must be constructed with quality materials
- To keep rents low ideally should be wholly funded through grants, donations or in kind support
In the UK costs have been reduced through modular construction methods, and controlled through tapping into various grants programs
Partnerships
Partnerships are central to the success of young people achieving their goals. Foyers provide safe and stable accommodation and support, but as the core goal is to promote independence, the aim is to support engagement of young people with mainstream opportunities. Foyers form partnerships with the service and education and training providers in the wider community, however some may be located in rental space in the Foyer building. Foyers develop partnerships in the following areas:
- Learning (i.e. public schools, TAFE, private colleges and universities)
- Working (i.e. apprenticeships, cadetships, work experience)
- Health (i.e. medical practitioners, mental health, child health and drug and alcohol services)
- Family (i.e. child care, child health)
Foyer RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
International experience has demonstrated that the development of a foyer is complex and can take several years. Each foyer must take into account local circumstances, and be based on consultation and research of the needs of young people, government and community agencies, education and training providers, the community and local authorities.
Work toward the development of a model for an Australian FOYER began in Adelaide in 2002. Activity and investment to date includes:
International Membership of the Foyer Federation (UK) since 2002
Three independent research studies with homeless young people
- Foyers, Creating Opportunities for Young People (McKinnon H. 2002)
- Roundabouts and Recycling - Factors contributing to the breakdown of young people’s post-emergency services placement (Kuzman G. 2003)
- Educational Aspirations of Homeless Young People (Hatfield J. 2005)
Development of an initial paper in 2002 for consultation, and Discussion Paper and Service Model in 2005
Consulted with government at local, state, national and agency level, including:
- The SA Social Inclusion Unit
- SA Premier and Cabinet (Thinkers in Residence program)
- SA Department for Families and Communities
- Housing SA
- Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology
- Office of Vocational Education and Training
- TAFE SA
- Local Governments, including the Adelaide City and West Torrens Councils
- South Australian Police
- Department of Transport and Regional Development
- The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Visited and consulted with:
- The FOYER Federation Practice Event (UK)
- Miller Live-n-Learn (Sydney)
- East Potential and Gateway Foyers (London, UK)
- Focus, Trident and Edmond Court Foyers (Birmingham, UK)
- Aberdeen Foyer (Scotland)
- Chelsea Foyer (CommonGround - New York, USA)
- Members of Parliament
Provided information about foyer and consulted via:
- SAAP service provider forums
- Presentations at conferences (National Anglicare Conference, State Homelessness Conference)
- Inner city service provider forums
- Community Groups (Student Housing providers, SE Residents Association, Hutt Street Traders, various service clubs)
Sponsored Conference - Inner City housing for Young People, Adelaide Town Hall September 2005 Click here for Conference Report
FOYER trade mark established 2007
Updated Proposal 2007
Foyer Foundation established April 2008
Appointed Business Development Manager December 2008
David Chesterton Australian Tour December 2008
The first operational foyer in Australia, Live N Learn, was established in the Sydney suburb of Miller NSW. Called the Miller Campus it opened in 2003. The Live N Learn Campus offers skills learning and stable accommodation in self contained campus style units for up to 29 young people.
Live N Learn recognises the important roles safe accommodation, education and lasting employment play in building a successful and independent life.
- A stable living environment is necessary for achieving education or training goals,
- Education is a key to gaining a job, and
- A good job is the key to living a quality life.
Live N Learn was initiated by the NSW Department of Housing as a way to offer better solutions for youth at risk of homelessness or youth exiting shorter-term accommodation. As an independent, not-for-profit company, Live N Learn applied a holistic approach to the needs of youth who require some ongoing support in order to re-establish themselves and halt a transition to chronic homelessness and unemployment.
Live-N-Learn Powerpoint presentation