Staff at the Region of Waterloo’s only youth homeless shelter are concerned after they say there were 22 incidents of unwanted adults on their property in the month of December.

According to the CEO of OneRoof, they only a handful of similar complaints in the last two decades.

"I have been the CEO of OneRoof for nearly 18 years, in that time I can count on one hand the number of critical incidents involving adults,” said Sandy Dietrich-Bell, CEO of OneRoof.

Dietrich-Bell brought this to the attention of regional council on Tuesday, during a committee meeting for community and health services.

Dietrich-Bell told councillors they do not believe these unwanted adults wandered on to their property by mistake and said staff are concerned about the possibility of sex-trafficking.

"We are finding the incidents we are experiencing actually involve adults milling about the campus. Many are not invited guests but have made their way on to our property to try and engage with vulnerable and impressionable young people,” she said.

Dietrich-Bell believes the influx of unwanted adults is linked to the new adult homeless shelter that recently opened at the former Schwaben Club located a few blocks away from the youth shelter in Kitchener.

"Unfortunately we believe much of the increased adult presence is related to the opening of the Schwaben Club (shelter) up the street from us.” Said Dietrich-Bell.

OneRoof is asking the Region of Waterloo to fund four or five security guards who will be part of the shelter staff.

The goal is to bring in contract security guards because staff believe the youth in their care often do not feel comfortable around people from outside their organization.

During the meeting, regional staff said they are funding security at the former Schwaben Club shelter to protect those using the shelter, staff and neighbouring businesses.

Committee members agreed to look into this request but did not make any commitments. Staff are expected to come back with more information at a later date but a date has not yet been specified.