The YWCA of Canberra has had enough of Connie Parkes and her children.
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The troubled single mother and her brood of six have been given their marching orders from the Gungahlin home they rented from the community housing provider.
The YWCA had its reasons, a long list of them, and the organisation's chief says her staff are heartbroken to have made the decision to evict.
But when the family's notice of eviction, originally slated for Monday, runs out, all seven of them are out on the street with nowhere to go.
The case highlights the difficulties faced by government and non-government agencies helping families with complex needs. After they leave their Gungahlin home, Housing ACT will have the task of finding a property suitable for a mother and six children, four of whom have some intellectual disability.
Despite a bewildering array of official and community sector agencies on the case including, Care and Protection, ACT Policing, YWCA, Housing ACT and Bernardos, efforts at a co-ordinated approach have failed and Ms Parkes says she and her children are staring homelessness in the face.
The mother, who acknowledges that she has had warnings from the YWCA, told The Canberra Times on Friday that her children knew they were facing an uncertain future.
''The children are unsettled, they are worried,'' Ms Parkes said. ''I don't know where we could go, no one will give us any answers.''
YWCA gave the family notice on Thursday, after a series of problems including the state of the house, police visits, concerns about the children's welfare, drugs and stolen property stored there, accusations of violence - which are denied by the family - and ''neighbourhood disturbances''.
YWCA of Canberra executive director Rebecca Vassarotti said she believed her organisation had been left to carry the can for the failures of other agencies. ''This is something that we would never do lightly and some of our workers are heartbroken that it's come to this. They are very distressed,'' Ms Vassarotti said.
''We're not an agency that ever wants to make any family homeless.
''But we do feel that we have been placed in an absolutely impossible situation
''There are many other agencies with involvement in this case and we feel that some of them should be taking more responsibility.''
Late on Friday, after negotiations between YWCA and the Community Services Directorate, the housing provider agreed to extend the notice period for 21 days.
A spokesman for Housing ACT said the agency was working with other agencies to support the family.