Chesterfield House, Rockingham Youth External Accommodation Project

Chesterfield House, Rockingham Youth External Accommodation Project was established in 1983 and over the years has provided emergency accommodation and other support services for six to ten young people aged 13-20 years. Chesterfield House was established and run as a community initiative, supported by the Shire of Rockingham and the departments responsible for child welfare. Since 1997, it has been administered by Anglicare. In 2014, Chesterfield House continued as part of Anglicare’s Y-Shac emergency accommodation program.

Chesterfield House, Rockingham Youth External Accommodation Project was established in 1983, funded through the Youth Supported Accommodation Program, which was a sub-program of the Commonwealth/State funded Supported Accommodation Assistance Program. At that time, it was described as a youth shelter, providing accommodation, welfare support and counselling services to up to 10 young people aged 13-18 years who were in crisis, with the length of stay dependent on individual need. In 1989, Chesterfield was a 24-hour emergency accommodation service for 14-19 year olds. By 2001, it seems that young people aged 14-20 years were being accommodated not only in the Chesterfield property, but in other ‘external’ accommodation in the Rockingham/Kwinana area.

Chesterfield began as a joint inititative of the department responsible for child welfare, the Shire of Rockingham, and a community group known as Youth Care Trust to address youth homelessness and crisis in the Rockingham/Kwinana area. In 1997, Anglicare took the lead role in managing Chesterfield programs and it was eventually absorbed into Anglicare’s Fostering Futures program. Since 2009, the program at Chesterfield has received funding through the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA).