“Why don’t they patch things up with their parents?”
“Why don’t they toughen up and get a job?”
“Why don’t they just quit drugs?”

It is all too easy to pass the buck when it comes to a largely-stigmatized and marginalized group of people, but experts say the growing problem of youth homelessness in York Region was a multifaceted issue that extends far beyond “individual-level responsibility.”

“There are much larger societal forces in play that lead to the problem of homelessness … It’s not very satisfactory for people who want a black and white answer,” said Stephen Hwang, a professor in public health at the University of Toronto whose research focuses on homelessness, housing and health.

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