Chair Stevens on ensuring 16-17 year olds access shelter beds
Stevens asks what DYCD is doing to ensure 16-17 year olds can access beds. Thorne explains the minor policy requires working with minors, contacting ACS and parents, and not turning them away without engagement. Stevens requests the full policy language be shared with the committee.
What is DYC doing to ensure that 16, 17-year-olds who seek shelter can access a bed when they need one?
I'll take that again.
The 16 and 17-year-olds, like I said earlier, we have a minor policy that ensures that 16 and 17-year-olds...
What is the policy?
Well, the policy says that you have to work with the minors, right?
They need shelter.
They are allowed to go into our crisis programs.
They are allowed to go into our till programs temporarily.
You need to contact ACS.
You need to get in touch with parents.
So there's no turning away a minor without working with them.
Yeah, I know we have some questions around, like, the ACS stuff because there are even some issues with coming up with that and contacting parents sometimes, too, is also dangerous.
Yes.
And could you guys, and if you don't have the exact policy now, if you don't, share it with us, because I would like to see what the guidance that we are actually...
Sending to providers around.
this to make sure that we're on the same page because like even saying working with them I can be like I worked with you and