A Progress Report on Calgary’s Research Agenda to End Homelessness
Description:
Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness (10 Year Plan) was launched in 2007 by Calgary’s Committee to End Homelessness and in January of 2008, the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) was chosen to lead its oversight and implementation. There were several key strategies in the original plan, including a strategy specific to data and research. To improve data and systems knowledge the CHF, in consultation with academic and community researchers, engaged in the first Calgary Homelessness Research Symposium to develop a three-year research agenda in 2009.
The 10 Year Plan was assessed and updated in 2010 to reflect what was learned from research and interventions during the first three years of implementation. In the updated plan, data and evidence-based knowledge are seen as critical to informing the advancement of the 10 Year Plan over the next seven years, to reform and improve mainstream systems, and to guide and measure progress.
In 2010, the CHF began further consultation with local researchers, in part through the second Homelessness Research Symposium. More than 75 local researchers, academics, service providers and government representatives were in attendance. Their input and feedback were instrumental in updating the original research agenda and in aligning future research priorities with the goals and strategies of the updated 10 Year Plan.
Since 2008, collaborative efforts have built a strong and rigorous foundation to advance the implementation of the 10 Year Plan in an evidence-based manner and to enhance our community’s understanding about homelessness and the interventions necessary to end it. The dissemination of this research has built awareness, strengthened networks and deepened our efforts.
Work to date shows:
• Significant progress has been made in the priority research areas of Ecology of Homelessness and Tailoring Interventions.
• There is a rich body of research emerging locally, nationally and internationally that advances our understandings and informs our decisions.
• The priority directions that guided the original research agenda remain relevant, though specific projects have been updated.
• Current and future research should prioritize our community’s most vulnerable people including, chronically homeless, Aboriginal peoples, youth, women and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• Continued collaboration and knowledge dissemination is key to building on the existing momentum and continuing efforts to end homelessness.
This document presents an update to the 2008 Research Agenda to summarize progress over the past two years, to reflect what has been learned, and to highlight changing priorities.
For a copy of the original Research Agenda that includes symposium input, see:
Type of Resource:
Report
Publication Date:
2011
Location:
Calgary, AB
Phone:
403-237-6456