Don’t Give Up on Us – a comic book

There is significant room for improvement of services addressed to young people experiencing homelessness. Current research and a previous knowledge exchange programme led by the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews has identified a need to incorporate all the individual’s needs and aspirations into this support. The project research team created an opportunity for practitioners in different fields and young people with experience of homelessness to come together and share views, feelings, and practices on how to achieve better collaboration and service delivery. The programme: i) shared research evidence on this topic; ii) collected experiences from young people to identify key elements of service provision they find are essential; iii) brought together practitioners from different sectors, academics, and policy makers to reflect upon the existing governmental and services initiatives to overcome the barriers towards better accessibility and engagement with services and practitioners.

One of the outcomes of this work is this comic, which illustrates various perspectives on the barriers to accessing services and engaging with practitioners. The first story in this comic showcases the perspectives of young people sharing their experiences related to homelessness and the support they have received. The second story represents the perceptions of practitioners. In the last part of the comic the young people and the practitioners come together to share their views and reflect on best practice.

This comic is part of the training package ‘Do not Give Up on Us: an interdisciplinary public engagement and research programme’ addressed to those working (or desiring to work) with people

experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. It is designed to pose questions about the experiences of receiving and delivering services, and it is hoped that young people and practitioners will use it to prompt discussion about the multiple challenges we all face in trying to reduce and eventually eliminate youth homelessness.