The charter was presented to MPs at the inaugural meeting of the Homeless Young People’s Parliament.
It also calls on housing services to make sure that young people have access to public health information and argues that provision should be better integrated so that all young homeless people progress to education or training.
“In order to ensure that this integration is embedded, a wide network of providers should be considered, including consortium- and partnership-based approaches,” the charter says.
Meanwhile different stages of accommodation should “support the transition to employment by providing environments that open and enable the expression of talents, rather than closing down potential and supporting deficits”.
The meeting bought together around 100 young homeless people from the Foyer Federation charity, which provides accommodation and support for young people, as well as other homelessness organisations.
Labour MP Jack Dromey, who hosted the event, has pledged that the charter will feed into the Labour Party’s policy review of homelessness next year. He has also said he will seek to raise the issues in parliament throughout 2013.
Harman O’Neill, development and delivery officer at the Foyer Federation, said the event represented an opportunity to create solutions that actually work and enable young people to move their lives on.
"Housing is just one ingredient in the recipe, as our network’s residents made clear on the day," she said.
"If young people are to make the transition to independent adulthood, there needs also to be an emphasis on building resilience and skills and in particular access to education and employment support.
"Only then are we making the right investment to ensure that young people can go on to thrive.’’
