SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Initial talks have begun to develop a facility for homeless teens, much like the Bailey House for men and plans for another shelter for women.

According to Dayle Handy, homelessness co-ordinator, funds have become available through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation to start up a pilot project to house homeless youth.

Garry Hubert, with the SideDoor Youth Centre, said he's done some initial research to look at starting up the project with that $100,000 pot.

Hubert said there is a need for the facility, with the limited options that exist in the city now for young people who have nowhere to go.

"I've got kids that sleep on the couch that I have to kick off the couch at 8 a.m.," he said, of the SideDoor's overnight drop-in policy.

Hubert said these youth need a stable environment.

While the SideDoor does offer various day programming, those youth without jobs or who aren't at school are often out to fend for themselves during the day, until the doors to the centre open again at 7 or 10 p.m., depending on the night.

"A lot of them, if they don't go to school and they don't have a job, they are meandering around," said Erin Sawatzki with the SideDoor.

"We're available in the day. It's not just a full-time drop in centre," she said, adding in the cold months, youth are invited in during the day to warm up or to get some lunch.

"We are non-discriminatory. So if they need a place to stay, they have a place to stay," she said.

She said youth also sit down with Spencer Heslep, program co-ordinator, and go over progress plans to keep them on track to self-sufficiency in finding employment or getting back to school.

The city's homelessness coalition recently released a homelessness report card, showing 24 youth spent between one to 30 nights at the SideDoor Youth Centre last year, while four youth spent between 31 to 120 nights there in 2008.

The report also stated the number of homeless is difficult to determine, as some people "couch surf" at the homes of different friends or family. "Couch surfing can make people, especially youth, extremely vulnerable to predators around involvement in criminal activity, such as theft, sex trade or drug trade," the report stated.

The SideDoor is the only place for youth to go, as the Centre for Northern Families takes in single women over the age of 18, the Salvation Army takes in men, and the Alison McAteer House takes in women and children who are victims of family violence.

Glen Abernethy, Great Slave MLA, asked Health Minister Sandy Lee what her department was doing to address the gap in services for youth on June 3.

"Homeless youth between the ages of 16 and 19 fall through the cracks of our existing programs," he said.

"Too old for non-voluntary support under the Child and Family Services Act and too young for income support, they have to rely on themselves to get a roof over their heads."

Lee said she recognized the gap needed to be addressed.

"We need to be giving them options and have them have more say about their environment and living arrangements," she said.

Hubert said his initial calculations show staffing the centre for 24 hours a day would alone cost more than the $100,000 already out there.

With the search for the women's shelter location, talks of a youth home have been put on the back burner for now, said Hubert.

"We thought we had located a place for the female facility, so we're just holding on before we make some kind of decision." he said.

"The youth aren't being forgotten, but we've got priorities."

"It's not dead or nothing, but it's just pushed back a couple weeks, or a couple months," he said.

Handy said the homelessness coalition will still focus on its three strategies: supporting and stabilizing existing sheltering agencies, increasing women's transitional beds, and increasing public information and advocacy for homeless needs.

She said nothing has been formally developed specifically for youth at this stage.

However, Handy said the coalition, of which the SideDoor is a party, would support any initiative to help homeless youth.

"We would love to take a look at youth, because we recognize there is a large gap in services for that age group."

A partnership between the city, government and BHP Billiton Ltd. recently announced a homeless day shelter for men and women in the city would be ready to open this fall.